BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Blood samples from dead pigs in Bago City, Negros Occidental tested positive for hog cholera, results from the Provincial Veterinary Office showed yesterday.
The Bago City government has been collecting blood samples from dead pigs as part of its efforts to contain the spread of hog cholera, as well as a precaution against the entry of African Swine Fever (ASF).
Mayor Nicholas Yulo said they started taking blood samples three weeks ago after monitoring a clustering of hog deaths.
Hog cholera and ASF have more or less the same symptoms. Among these are fever, loss of appetite, dullness, weakness, conjunctivitis, constipation followed by diarrhea, and an unsteady gait.
“We are following the protocols implemented by the Bureau of Animal Industry like strictly isolating [sick] pigs,” Yulo said.
Raisers are prohibited from moving or selling pigs from an infected area to other areas.
The city’s Barangay Sagasa currently has the highest number of hog cholera cases.
As of yesterday, Yulo also said the affected hogs in the city are about three percent of the city’s total hog population.
On Tuesday, May 16, the Negros Occidental provincial government logged 2,421 hog deaths due to hog cholera.
Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson already issued an executive order forming an Incident Management Team to monitor the health of hogs in the province.
The provincial government also sent 27 samples to the Department of Agriculture Region 6, all of which tested negative for ASF.
Despite the province remaining ASF-free, Lacson said they have begun preparations for the possible entry of the hog disease.
He 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./PN
