ANTI-ASF OPERATIONS. Veterinary quarantine inspector Joseph Oderf Orillano prepares to disinfect and bury confiscated pork products from a passenger at the Dumaguete-Sibulan airport on Thursday afternoon (Nov. 14, 2019). The one-and-a-half kilograms of chorizo and sausages were intercepted in the absence of necessary permits as authorities intensify their watch against the entry of the Africa swine fever (ASF) virus in the province. (Photo courtesy of the Bureau of Animal Industry)
DUMAGUETE CITY -- Authorities in Negros Oriental have seized more raw pork products from Luzon as it continues its intensified watch against the entry of the African swine fever (ASF) virus in the province.
Dr. Alfonso Tundag, quarantine officer of the provincial office of the Bureau of Animal Industry, said on Friday that one-and-a-half kilograms of fresh chorizo and sausage were intercepted at the Dumaguete-Sibulan airport on Thursday afternoon.
Veterinary quarantine inspector Joseph Oderf Orillano confiscated the items, placed inside a styro box, from a passenger of a commercial flight from Manila that landed at the airport here at about 3:05 p.m.
The items were disinfected and buried immediately, Orillano said.
The passenger was cooperative when informed that the confiscated pork products did not have the necessary documents, such as a certificate of meat inspection and a shipping permit, he added.
Tundag said the frozen pork products were manufactured in Cavite, one of the areas with an ASF outbreak.
The Visayas and Mindanao remain ASF-free, and provincial and local governments are scrambling to prevent the entry of the virus, which affects pigs but has no health implication on humans.
Some parts of the region have ordered a total ban on raw pork meat and by-products from Luzon although Negros Oriental still allows entry upon presentation of the necessary documents, Tundag said.
Bringing out of pork and its by-products from here is not allowed as Dumaguete does not have a Double AA slaughterhouse that is accredited by the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS), he added. Only abattoirs with such ratings are allowed to butcher animals to avoid illegal slaughter in the community and prevent any kind of animal disease.
Tundag said a person who applied for a permit from his office to bring 5 kg. of pork to Bohol for personal consumption had been denied.
The city government has poured in more than PHP4 million to upgrade the slaughterhouse so that in a few months, it could apply for NMIS accreditation, he added. (PNA)
