ILOILO City – This southern city is now a “red zone” following the detection of additional confirmed cases of African Swine Fever (ASF).
Two barangays now have cases of ASF – Tacas and Bito-on in Jaro district, according to Dr. Suzette Leal, Veterinarian IV of the City Veterinarian Office (CVO).
It was in Barangay Tacas where the city’s first confirmed case was logged last month, and just this Dec. 2 the laboratory results of samples collected in a backyard farm in Barangay Bito-on turned out positive for ASF, too.
Leal said the backyard farm, with a total of six hog heads, first reported one mortality. After surveillance and testing, two of its five remaining pigs also turned out positive for the hog disease.
When the team from Cthe VO returned on Dec. 3 for depopulation, two of the five pigs already died. All of them where disposed properly.
Contract tracing showed that the hog farmer sourced the hogs from a backyard farm in Barangay Tagbak a month ago.
He shared that before his hogs got sick, he tapped the services of a technician to immunize his hogs.
Leal noted the backyard farm in Barangay Bito-on is the only one in the area. In fact, based on the survey conducted by barangay officials, there were no other hog farms within the .5-kilometer radius especially that the area is near the coastal.
The CVO will continue the surveillance in other areas of the city. So far, Leal said, there is no more border control in Barangay Bito-on because there are no more hog population within the supposed containment area.
“Padayon lang namon nga ginapahanumdom sa inyo nga kon magbakal kamo sang baboy, check niyo gid kon may meat inspection certification ina siya. For backyard raisers, padayunon lang ang pagpanglimpyo kag pag-disinfect sang inyo mga tangkal. Kon mahimu indi anay maghatag damug, kon maghatag lutoon sang maayo for 30 minutes,” Leal added.
Meantime, Leal said the city government-run slaughterhouse in Barangay Tacas will continue to cater hogs for slaughtering as long as it is equipped with pertinent documents./PN
