BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The number of hog deaths in Negros Occidental reached 5,252 as of Tuesday, May 23, data from the Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) showed.
The town of San Enrique still logged the highest number of hog deaths at 1,936, followed by Valladolid at 936, Bago City (852), Pontevedra (461), Pulupandan (374), E.B. Magalona (268), and La Carlota City (268), said Dr. Placeda Lemana, PVO officer-in-charge (OIC).
Other local government units, meanwhile, only recorded single to double digit hog deaths.
According to Lemana, the damage to the province’s swine industry has now reached P63.5 million.
Among the causes of hog deaths were hog cholera, pneumonia, heat stroke, and other swine diseases, the PVO OIC said.
Last week, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson issued an executive order for all villages to set up their respective border control points to control the movement of hogs.
The province is still free from the African Swine Fever (ASF). It remains on heightened alert after neighboring Negros Oriental reported its first ASF cases in Dauin town./PN
