BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The town of San Enrique in Negros Occidental is now a “red zone” for recording the highest number of hog deaths due to hog cholera.
The province logged a total of 2,000 hog deaths, with San Enrique recording 736 deaths since April this year, based on data presented during an emergency meeting on animal biosecurity held yesterday morning.
San Enrique’s Mayor Jilson Tubillara, who also attended the meeting, revealed that all villages in the town are affected by hog cholera and the number of hog deaths could even be higher as not all hog raisers are reporting deaths.
He even said the town was already burying dead pigs using a backhoe.
The hog cholera may have spread due to the town’s location as a catch basin for all water in the province’s 4th District, the mayor pointed out.
He added the irresponsible dumping of dead pigs from the upland areas infected hogs in the municipality.
Tubillara also made a suggestion to Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson to further tighten border controls in the province and limit the movement of live animals.
Lacson, for his part said, he will issue another executive order forming an Incident Management Team to monitor the health of hogs in the province.
He also said the findings from the Department of Agriculture Region 6 showed that all 27 samples sent to them tested negative for the African Swine Fever (ASF).
Despite the province remaining ASF-free, Lacson said they have begun preparations for the possible entry of the hog disease in the province.
Lacson ordered all local government units (LGUs) to set up border controls in all villages to limit the movement of sick pigs.
He added they will not stop raisers from shipping their pigs out of the province as long as they provide the required documents at the border control points.
According to the Iowa State University in the United States, hog cholera, also known as “Classical Swine Fever,” is a highly contagious, viral disease for swine.
The disease occurs in most major swine-raising countries where eradication programs have not been successfully implemented.
The disease is currently endemic in much of Asia.
Unlike ASF, however, there is an existing vaccine for hog cholera. The virus is also harmless to humans.
Among the noted symptoms of hog cholera include fever, loss of appetite, dullness, weakness, conjunctivitis, constipation followed by diarrhea, and an unsteady gait.
Several days after the onset of clinical signs, the ears, abdomen and inner thighs may show a purple discoloration. Animals with acute disease die within one to two weeks./PN
