The Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) on Wednesday reported that it has detected 58 positive cases of African Swine Fever (ASF) in Cebu province.
Meanwhile, a party-list lawmaker urged the government to prioritize the vaccination of local hogs against the ASF which he said continued to decrease the local supply of pork since the disease’s resurgence in 2018.
The BAI said it tested 149 blood samples from Carcar City in Cebu last March 1, 58 of which turned out to be positive.
The samples, collected through surveillance activities by the City Veterinary Office of Carcar, were subjected to real-time polymerase chain reaction (rtPCR).
Following the release of the results, the City Veterinary Office of Carcar and Provincial Veterinary Office of Cebu immediately deployed response teams for further disease surveillance in the city to identify the extent of infection. Both agencies have issued movement control measures and active coordination with the local government units.
The BAI is in close coordination with theDA-Regional Field Office VII, Provincial Veterinary Office of Cebu and other relevant agencies for the implementation of ASF protocols and will be providing necessary technical and logistical support for the immediate containment of the infected area.
All swine raisers and stakeholders were encouraged to report any unusual pig mortalities and sickness to their respective agriculture/veterinary offices, intensify the biosecurity measures and stop the use of swill. The public is advised not to panic and to cooperate with the authorities on the implementation of ASF control protocols in the province.
“We call on the government for our hog raisers. Now that the vaccine against ASF will be available, we appeal to the government to act on the distribution of the said vaccine to the stakeholders a soonest,” AGRI Rep. Wilbert Lee said.
Local agriculture product KPP Powers Commodities is currently conducting safety and efficacy trials using the AVAC ASF Live Vaccine developed by AVAC Vietnam Co. Ltd. in four farms in the country. The clinical trials, which are expected to be completed in April, is being done under the supervision of the Bureau of Animal Industry.
According to recent reports, the Vietnamese government will soon start nationwide distribution of the AVAC ASF vaccine after producing highly favorable results from more than 600,000 doses administered in field trials since July 2022.
The lawmaker highlighted the urgency of ASF vaccination, as he said ASF has caused supply shortfalls that have resulted in the jacking up of pork prices. This, in turn, has an effect on inflation, he added.
The Department of Agriculture recently reported that there are active ASF cases in 75 barangays in 42 municipalities in 12 provinces in seven regions as of February 2. These provinces include Cagayan, Aurora, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Camarines Sur, Iloilo, Northern Samar, Zamboanga del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur.
The DA also said that the cumulative number of affected areas since the breakout of ASF in the country in 2019 up to the present reached 4,308 barangays in 788 municipalities in 59 provinces in 15 regions.
Since the first outbreak of the virus in September 2019, and by June 2021, the Philippines’ total hog population had already declined by half to 6.6 million pigs from 13 million during the pre-ASF period.
