(File PNA photo)
CEBU CITY – The Department of Agriculture in Central Visayas (DA-7) on Tuesday said it will adhere to the national policy in preventing the further spread of the African swine fever (ASF) virus by culling pigs within the 500-meter radius.
Dr. Daniel Ventura, ASF coordinator of the DA-7, emphasized that not culling pigs “that were in close contact or might have been exposed to those tested ASF positive cases may pose a high risk to other healthy pigs.”
His statement came after Governor Gwendolyn Garcia ordered for the stoppage of culling live hogs in Carcar City in Cebu province, saying that “slaughtering healthy pigs will result in unnecessary losses for hog growers.”
“Potential transmission however could be prevented through good biosecurity practices particularly addressing human activities involving pigs, (and) understanding how the virus can infect pigs,” Ventura told the Philippine News Agency in an interview.
Ventura said the standard protocol “is to sacrifice all pigs within the infected premises and that extends to all pigs within a 500-meter radius from the site to ensure that the virus will not have access to any pig host where it can multiply.”
He said the decision to conduct a "test and destroy" or "test and slaughter" depends on certain criteria.
“In the first case, all pigs tested positive will be killed and buried while in the latter, pigs tested negative can be slaughtered for food. The decision for a test and slaughter shall be based on risk analysis and a higher farm biosecurity level which many backyard farms are not able to meet,” he said.
Ventura also suggested the conduct of a cost impact analysis in the testing and slaughtering of pigs but said that “either which way is decided, it must be clear that pigs are to be culled within a 500-meter radius and even extending to 1-kilometer radius from an infected premise.”
“Time is of the essence in controlling the spread of the virus, thus, a sound decision is warranted,” he added.
In a press conference on Monday afternoon, Garcia ordered the shift of the province’s surveillance from slaughterhouses to backyard farms instead, to see the real picture on the ground.
“Let’s proceed logically, sensibly, and always with the general welfare of the people in mind,” Garcia said in a statement posted in the capitol's social media page.
The capitol will be providing a maximum of PHP5,000 financial aid for each of the culled pigs of the affected backyard hog raisers.
Carcar City administrator Jose Marie Poblete said Mayor Mario Patricio Barcenas shares the same sentiment with Garcia in handling the ASF infection in his locality, which is home to the famous "chicharon" (pork rinds) and "lechon" or roast pig.
“Implementing the provincial ordinance on culling is really a concern of the LGU (local government unit) because of the issue of seemingly healthy hogs to be included because they are within the declared infected zone,” Poblete told the PNA in a message, citing its impact to the livelihood of backyard raisers. (PNA)
