BACOLOD City – The Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) of Negros Occidental has not recorded any new hog mortalities for 11 straight days, or from Aug. 11 to 21.
As of Monday, Aug. 21, the accumulated hog mortalities remained at 17,801 or 9.83 percent of the province’s total hog population, with losses reaching P199,577,900, PVO officer-in-charge (OIC) Dr. Placeda Lemana said yesterday.
She said the zero hog mortalities is a positive development and proves that disinfection and decontamination works on hog farms in the province were effective.
The provincial government’s decision to create its own veterinary laboratory also contributed to this. They were able to respond immediately as soon as they received confirmation about sick hogs and they could immediately cordon off the area.
The PVO OIC, however, said that despite the zero hog mortalities or the decline in the number of deaths, it is still too early to begin the hog sentineling program or repopulating the affected hog farms.
They are still gathering samples from the hog farms to determine if they are already negative for diseases such as hog cholera and African Swine Fever (ASF).
The PVO has started gathering samples from hog farms in the 4th District – the most badly hit area in the province.
They will also gather samples from the 3rd, 5th and 6th districts.
Lemana said if the tests come back negative for any hog disease, that would be the only time they will recommend proceeding with the sentinelling program. (Watchmen Daily Journal)/PN
