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GENERAL SANTOS CITY – The Provincial Veterinary Office (ProVet) confirmed a positive case of African swine fever (ASF) in a village backyard hog farm in Malapatan, Sarangani on Thursday.
Dr. Bernard Cababat, acting ProVet chief, said the case came from Barangay Lun Padidu after years of zero cases in the town.
He said the outcome was based on the results from the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Regional Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory where hog blood samples were earlier taken from the infected backyard swine farm in the village.
“According to the report from the municipal agriculture office, several hogs have died in the backyard hog farm in the village. We immediately conducted a swine blood sample collection, submitted it to the DA laboratory and the result came out that there is an ASF positive case in the area,” he said.
Cababat said they immediately culled hogs in the hog farm village and implemented containment measures to protect other backyard raisers in nearby areas.
“We have culled 39 hogs so far with the owner cooperating,” he said.
He said they are continuously monitoring the village for the possible spread of the virus.
Affected hog farmers, he said, must report suspected ASF cases early so they could immediately conduct the culling or depopulation of infected and susceptible hogs.
This city and other localities in Soccsksargen (Region 12) have earlier blocked the transport of live hogs and pork from Glan, Malungon, and adjacent towns due to the ASF threat. (PNA)
