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DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Davao del Sur became the latest province in Mindanao to record cases of African swine fever (ASF), the Department of Agriculture in Region 11 said on Wednesday, February 12.
DA-11 made the announcement after blood samples taken from pigs in the villages of Palili and Laperas in Sulop, Davao del Sur, tested positive for ASF.
DA regional director Ricardo Oñate reported this to Davao del Sur Governor Douglas Cagas. He said they were still awaiting the results of testing done on samples collected from another Davao del Sur town.
Earlier, the two villages, along with another Sulop barangay and Aplaya in Hagonoy, Davao del Sur, were placed under tight monitoring after reports of an ASF-like disease affecting hogs there.
“In the interest of transparency, I would like to tell you that we have 4 barangays in the province that are under investigation due to suspected presence of the ASF,” Dr Russel Celis, the Davao del Sur provincial veterinarian, said on Monday, February 10.
It was not clear yet whether the ASF-positive hogs found in Palili and Laperas came from Don Marcelino in Davao Occidental.
Prior to the discovery of the outbreak in Don Marcelino, hog raisers had actively participated in the almost daily hog auction in Sulop, which had since been temporarily shut down to prevent the spread of the disease.
Celis said that the barangays under tight monitoring had been “locked down.”
Following the confirmation from Oñate, the “1-7-10” protocol is now in effect in the two villages of Sulop. This means that all pigs within the one-kilometer radius of the villages have to be culled while those within 7 kilometers have to be certified prior to local sale.
Only pigs raised 10 kilometers from the two villages can be sold outside the town, provided that these had been certified to be disease-free.
In Davao City, pigs within the two ASF-affected villages of Calinan district were culled on Saturday, February 8.
Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte said the payouts to affected raisers were released starting Friday, or a day after the culling took place in barangays Lamanan and Dominga.
She said that right after Friday’s declaration of a state of calamity in the two villages, the City Council approved the relese of P20 million from the city’s calamity fund as assistance to the affected farmers.
Sara said the city government paid P5,000 per head of swine in the two villages, or P90 per kilo, whichever is higher. Owners of culled piglets were paid P1,500 per head.
Meanwhile, meat vendors interviewed by local TV stations said the demand for pork and pork-related products had decreased since the ASF outbreak in Calinan. Sara said meat vendors were not among those who will get assistance from the city government over the ASF outbreak.
“Only the affected hog raisers in the two villages,” the mayor added. – Rappler.com
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