20,000 hogs slaughtered to control ASF outbreak – DA

Twenty thousand pigs in various places around the country were slaughtered as part of the effort to control the spread of the African swine fever (ASF) virus, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA)

In a report by Tina Panganiban Perez for “24 Oras” on Monday, DA chief William Dar said most of the slaughtered hogs came from Bulacan.

“Now, in those areas in Bulacan, we are cordoning, quarantining these affected areas. And in nearby Pampanga, which is not that many as Bulacan, we are also applying 1-7-10 protocol,” he said.

Under the protocol, quarantine checkpoints are set up in areas within a 1-kilometer radius of suspected farms—monitoring the movement of live pigs, pork, and pork products.

Within a 7-kilometer radius, authorities are conducting surveillance and limiting animal movement.

Farm owners within the 10-kilometer radius are mandated to report any disease to the DA.

“Two-thirds of 20,000 [pigs] have not been affected by African swine fever because of the protocol. We are depopulating,” Dar added.

Pampanga is the latest addition to the list of areas in which ASF cases were discovered. This brought the number of areas in which infections were discovered to 13.

Meanwhile, in Pangasinan, a truck that contained ASF-infected pigs from Bulacan was caught at a quarantine checkpoint.

“When they were accosting the trader with the truck of course of about 30 heads, wala silang mapakita na mga dokumento, which means nag-alangan agad ang provincial government and they decided to already hold this truck of about 30 pigs,” said Dar.

Fifty percent of the pigs were found to be positive for ASF.

The 1-7-10 protocol was immediately put into effect by the local government of Pangasinan while over a thousand pigs within a one-kilometer radius of the truck were depopulated.

Dar clarified that hogs in Pangasinan have not yet been infected with ASF.

In Manila, Mayor Isko Moreno led a boodle fight that included pork products to demonstrate to citizens that it was still safe to consume pork.

Moreno reminded consumers about choosing pork: “Mag-isip kayo kapag sobrang mura. There must be something wrong.” — Julia Mari T. Ornedo/DVM, GMA News