ILOILO – The provincial government banned over the weekend the entry of pork products from Eastern Visayas.
Thursday last week, the Department of Agriculture (DA) reported new cases of African swine fever (ASF) in Leyte, as well as in nearby Masbate.
“Eastern Visayas shall be added among the territories and localities from where swine, pork, pork products and by-products shall be banned from entry into the province,” read part of Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr.’s Executive Order No. 048, Series 2021.
All livestock transport carriers coming in and going out of livestock auction markets and livestock holding facilities shall undergo thorough disinfection and must carry updated disinfection clearance signed by the livestock technician or any authorized personnel, the EO added.
Due to their proximity to the ASF-stricken island province, the provincial government also ordered all coastal villages in the northern portion of the province to intensify their monitoring to ward off the ASF.
“Hugtan pa gid naton [ang monitoring] kay ang islands sang Carles medyo malapit sa Masbate,” said Darel Tabuada, acting provincial veterinarian.
Since there is no known vaccine against ASF yet – sick pigs die in two to 10 days – the illness is destructive to the swine industry. Local hog raisers are fearful.
As a preventive measure, Tabuada said they required barangay captains in northern Iloilo to issue a certification for pork traders as proof that their products were sourced out locally.
For his part, Jonic Natividad, regulatory division chief of DA-6, said they further strengthened their monitoring of various seaports in the region including small ports and fish landing sites where ASF-infected pork or by products could possibly sneak in.
“Just one piece of ASF-infected pork could compromise our P20-billion swine industry in Western Visayas,” Natividad stressed.
DA-6 also coordinated with local government units of Carles, Estancia, Concepcion and Roxas City in Capiz to strengthen their education campaign against ASF.
Last month, the provincial government prohibited the entry of livestock transport carriers without disinfection certificate from Luzon and Mindanao currently suffering ASF.
According to Defensor, livestock transport carriers and hog vans from Luzon, Mindanao were “potential agents of transmission of the disease through feces, urine and fomites.”
The ban will be lifted only when the country has been declared ASF-free already.
ASF is not considered a human health threat. However, humans can become carriers of the virus once tainted pork is ingested or if people get close to the infected meat, according to the National Meat Inspection Service.
The virus can also survive even if the meat has been processed or canned, it added./PN
