ASF SITUATION. Mayor Rico Roque of Pandi, Bulacan explains to members of the local media the real status of piggeries affected by the African swine fever (ASF) during a press conference held in his office on Thursday (Oct. 3, 2019). A total of 191 ASF-infected swine were already culled in Pandi. (Photo courtesy of Pandi Information Office)
PANDI, Bulacan-- A total of 1,191 heads of swine from piggery farms in Pandi and Pulilan towns in this province have been culled after being found positive of the African swine fever (ASF) virus.
Pandi Mayor Enrico Roque said on Thursday that a total of 191 hogs were culled at the Corpus Farm in their town's Barangay Baka-bakahan.
He said that based on the results of the laboratory analysis taken by the Department of Agriculture on Sept. 20 and Sept. 24 on the blood samples of livestock at the farm owned by May Gonzalez, the swine were found to be afflicted with ASF, which prompted the depopulation.
Elsie Angeles, acting municipal agriculture officer of Pandi, said the culling of pigs at Corpus Farm started on September 27 and was abruptly stopped last Monday (Sept. 30) when Gonzalez appeared in a television news program and denied that their livestock tested positive for ASF.
Angeles also denied Gonzalez’s claim that their swine were culled by crushing with a backhoe.
“The culled animals were electrocuted and not crushed by a backhoe before being thrown in a pit. Initially, a total of 114 swine were culled followed by 77 heads before the culling was stopped on the 200-sow level farm of Gonzalez and her associates,” she said.
In Pulilan, Mayor Ma. Rosario “Maritz” Ochoa-Montejo said some 1,000 pigs afflicted with ASF in Barangays Inaon, Tabon, Balatong A, Balatong B, Tinejero and Dulong Malabon have been culled.
Meanwhile, the two local chief executives said that quarantine checkpoints for all animals going in and out of their respective towns are now being strictly implemented.
They also said that testing of blood samples from livestock is being done regularly, as well as the culling and depopulation of ASF-affected swine. (PNA)
