GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 28 January) – The city government confirmed Friday the African Swine Fever (ASF) contamination in backyard hog farms in a village here.
Dr. Antonio Ephrem Marin, head of the City Veterinary Office, said several hogs from Purok San Lorenzo in Barangay Apopong have tested positive for the dreaded animal disease in reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction or RT-PCR testing.
He said they are still investigating and tracing how the “intrusion” happened but admitted that the infected hogs might have slipped past the city’s border quarantine checkpoints.
“Yes, we have ASF in GenSan and we’re doing everything to effectively contain it,” Marin told reporters.
The official said they initially received a report last Jan. 21 regarding abrupt mortalities among the stocks of backyard hog raisers in Purok San Lorenzo.
He immediately sent a team from their office led by disease control division chief Dr. Emilio Gargaran to investigate the matter and collect blood samples from the affected animals.
The Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Regional Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in Barangay Lagao confirmed on Jan. 24 that some of the tested samples came out positive for ASF, he said.
Marin said they immediately informed City Mayor Ronnel Rivera and other city officials on the matter and proceeded to conduct massive culling of hogs in Purok San Lorenzo to preempt the further spread of the disease.
He said the move is aimed to stop the possible disease transmission through the infected animals and residents within the affected area.
“We acted swiftly because the disease can potentially wipe out the hogs there in two weeks’ time and even spread to the other barangays,” he said.
In the last three days, Marin said their teams have culled a total of 508 hogs coming from 54 raisers.
The culled hogs were properly disposed based on standard protocol at the city’s sanitary landfill site in Barangay Sinawal, he said.
Marin said they are continually monitoring the situation in Purok San Lorenzo and other areas in the city in coordination with DA-Region 12.
He added that they also intensified the enforcement activities in the city’s seven quarantine checkpoints along the border highways and other alternate entry points against the entry of unauthorized hogs and banned pork products. (Allen V. Estabillo/MindaNews)
