ASF-hit barangays down to 60 –DA

The Department of Agriculture said Sunday that the country’s fight against the African Swine Fever has continued but is now confined to fewer affected areas compared to ASF's outbreak in 2019.

In a dzBB interview, DA Assistant Secretary Noel Reyes said backyard hog raisers in some 60 barangays still suffer from the highly contagious viral disease among pigs, but this is much smaller than the 3,000 areas during outbreak.

“Ang maganda ay bumababa na ‘yung incidents—below 60 barangays na lang out of a high 3,000 nung 2019. Marami na ‘yung nai-declare nating ASF-free areas.  Ang pinagpapatuloy na lang natin ‘yung maigting na pagpapatupad ng biosecurity, ‘yung quarantine protocols,” he said.

(The ASF is still there but the cases are declining—there are less than 60 barangays out of 3,000 in 2019. Several areas have also been declared ASF-free. Now, we are implementing biosecurity, and quarantine protocols.)

Reyes also reminded backyard hog raisers to immediately call the provincial veterinarian when their pigs get sick. If they are ASF-positive, they have to be killed and buried thereafter.

“We’re winning the battle against ASF. The war has not been won yet, but we are getting there,” he added.

Further, Reyes said the Agriculture department is coordinating with the United States in testing two vaccine brands against the ASF.

“Sana naman in a few months ay maganda ang resulta. Vaccine din talaga makaka-ano niyan eh, just like the COVID-19, vaccine lang talaga, and proper medical protocols, biosecurity naman tawag doon sa animal sector,” he said.

(We hope to get good results in a few months. Like in COVID-19, only vaccines can eradicate the ASF, and maintaining proper medical protocols or biosecurity for animals.)

On Saturday, the DA announced that they will pay in full all farmers whose hogs were culled due to the ASF. Since the outbreak, the department has been paying P5,000 for every culled pig of backyard raisers in ASF-infected areas.

So far, the DA has received a total of P2.158-billion request to indemnify affected backyard hog raisers, of which P1.697 billion has already been paid to 48,530 farmer-beneficiaries who owned 379,420 culled hogs.

The Agriculture department has also provided ASF-affected farmers financial and technical assistance through its twin program called "Bantay ASF sa Barangay" and Integrated National Swine Production Initiatives. —LBG, GMA News