North Cotabato Governor Nancy Catamco orders the culling of some 200 hogs in Kidapawan City to prevent the spread of the African swine fever on Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020. (Photo courtesy of the Department of Agriculture - Region 12)
COTABATO CITY – North Cotabato Governor Nancy Catamco has ordered the culling of all hogs within the five-kilometer radius of a village in Kidapawan City to prevent the spread of the African swine fever (ASF).
“About 200 hogs have already been culled in Barangay Linangcob, Kidapawan City as of Sunday,” Catamco told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) in a phone interview Monday.
Last week, some 1,400 hogs affecting 386 hog raisers in the ASF-affected towns of Magpet, Arakan, and Pres. Roxas in the province were also culled to stop the infection from spreading.
Provincial Veterinarian Dr. Rufino Sorupia said the 200 hogs culled on Sunday were from Purok Mangosteen, Barangay Linangcob whose 22 hog owners were compensated by the Department of Agriculture.
"We continue gathering blood samples from other hogs in the area to ensure the virus will not spread to other areas in the city,” Sorupia said.
He said Barangay Linangcob was the 15th village in the province infected by ASF, 11 of which were from Magpet, two in Pres. Roxas and one in Arakan.
Sorupia said the ASF has damaged some PHP7.8 million of the province’s hog industry.
Catamco said a PHP2,000 financial aid is given by the provincial government to owners of every culled hog.
In addition, the hog owners will get another PHP2,000 each from their respective municipal government of every hog culled, and a fixed amount of PHP5,000 financial assistance from the Department of Agriculture–12 regardless of how many hogs he owns. (PNA)
