ASF WATCH. Pigs on a farm in Leyte. African swine fever (ASF) has now affected 42 towns and cities in Eastern Visayas this week, raising concern that the animal disease could spread to other areas in the region if farmers and local authorities will be complacent. (PNA file photo)
TACLOBAN CITY – African swine fever (ASF) has now affected 42 towns and cities in Eastern Visayas this week, raising concern that the animal disease could spread to other areas in the region if farmers and local authorities will be complacent.
DA Eastern Visayas regional technical director Elvira Torres said in a meeting on Thursday that hog industry stakeholders should step up efforts to manage the ASF spread down to the farm level.
As of July 31, ASF-affected areas in Leyte are Abuyog, Javier, La Paz, Dulag, MacArthur, Tanauan, Palo, Burauen, Sta. Fe, San Miguel, Tunga, Barugo, Mahaplag, Leyte, Pastrana, Tacloban City, Mayorga, Jaro, Carigara, Tolosa, Dagami, Tabontabon, Ormoc City, Tabango, Matag-ob, Kananga, and Calubian.
In other provinces, towns plagued by ASF are Dolores, Oras, Jipapad, and Balangiga in Eastern Samar; Silago and Sogod in Southern Leyte; Calbayog City, Catbalogan City, Sta. Rita, Hinabangan, Basey, and Sta. Margarita in Samar; and Lope de Vega, Catarman, and Mondragon in Northern Samar.
“Only 217 of the 4,390 villages in the region have been affected by ASF, which is 5 percent of the total. This is just minimal, but we hope this will not spread to other areas,” Torres said.
Some 13,697 hogs have been culled as of the end of July for fear of virus spread, representing 6.11 percent of the region’s 223,504 hog population recorded this year.
From June to July, 12 towns have been added to the ASF-hit areas in the region.
Earlier, the DA regional office directed its regulatory staff and members of the regional ASF task force to finalize its comprehensive plan that will address the continuous increase of ASF cases in Region 8.
The roadmap seeks to establish effective and efficient surveillance and reporting system, strengthen biosecurity measures at farm level and border control, intensify awareness campaign and capacity building, institutionalize local government engagement, recovery and repopulation, and mobilization of resources for effective overall program implementation.
Leyte is the first province in the Visayas which recorded confirmed ASF infection. The first case was recorded last Jan. 14 in Abuyog town.
Initial investigation showed the ASF virus could have been transmitted to local farms in Leyte through infected boar being used for natural mating and by hog traders who might have fed their stocks with contaminated food products.
In Samar Island, the ASF virus has spread through the unregulated transport of pork meat.
Pigs affected by ASF usually manifest high fever, distinct reddish areas on the skin of the neck, chest, and extremities, and bleeding of internal organs that could lead to death within two to 10 days. (PNA)
