ILOILO – Veterinary quarantine personnel of the Department of Agriculture (DA) Region 6’s Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) disposed in Barangay Inaladan, Cabatuan town meat and meat products they intercepted at the Iloilo Airport.
Disposed yesterday at the Cabatuan dumpsite were 24.8 kilograms assorted meat and meat products, 39 packs of pork chicharon, and 122 canned meat products.
They were treated with disinfectant first, then incinerated before being buried in the ground.
Most of the items were from Singapore, Hong Kong and the island of Luzon, according to Darel Tabuada, supervising veterinarian of the Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO).
These areas have confirmed cases of African swine fever (ASF). Tabuada, however, clarified they weren’t sure if the disposed items were contaminated with the ASF virus.
ASF is a highly contagious hemorrhagic viral disease that spreads rapidly in pigs. Since there is no known vaccine against it yet – sick pigs die in two to 10 days – ASF is destructive to the swine industry.
This was the second such disposal of meat and meat products intercepted at the Iloilo Airport. The first was on Dec. 11, 2019.
Tabuada again appealed to travelers not to bring from abroad, especially from ASF-hit countries, meat and meat products to protect Iloilo’s swine industry.
Last month, the provincial government expanded its ban on live swine, pork, pork products and byproducts to cover the whole of Mindanao.
The goal, according to Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr., was to protect Iloilo’s swine industry from ASF which hit Mindanao’s swine.
On Feb. 5 he issued Executive Order No. 027-A expanding the existing temporary ban (Executive Order No. 027 issued on Jan. 20, 2020) on live swine, pork, pork products and byproducts covering Luzon and the countries of Latvia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Luxembourg, Belgium, Bulgaria, Moldova, Czech Republic, South Africa, Zambia, Hong Kong, Mongolia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Lao peoples Republic, South Korea, and China.
Despite the ban, Iloilo has not experienced a shortage in pork, pork products and by-products as there are lots of local suppliers and hog raisers./PN
