KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews/24 February) — The regional Department of Agriculture (DA) is closely watching the emergence of a suspected illness affecting goats called pinkeye disease in South Cotabato province, officials said.

Amalia Datukan, DA Southwestern Mindanao director, said the disease was monitored in one of the farms in Sto. Nino, South Cotabato.

“An inspection was conducted in the affected farm twice earlier this month and samples were taken for laboratory analysis,” she said, adding they are still awaiting the final diagnosis from the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI).

In the absence of a final diagnosis the local government units of South Cotabato and Sto. Nino and the regional Agriculture department are closely monitoring the farm and have initiated measures such as antibiotic treatment, Datukan said.

Citing the report of the provincial veterinary office, the Agriculture executive said that at least 64 of the 130 goats were supposedly affected by the disease.

Lorna Lamorena, South Cotabato chief veterinarian, said that based on their initial finding, the goats were afflicted by the pinkeye disease, or infectious keratoconjunctivitis , based on their physical symptoms.

According to the regional Agriculture office, pinkeye disease in goats may be caused by several different agents, among them stress.

The stress could be a result of transporting the goats, improper nutrition, severe or dramatic weather changes or of underlying illness such as abortion or pneumonia, it added.