AFRICAN SWINE FEVER

Animal checkpoint set up in Barangay Bagong Silangan, QC; more than 900 pigs culled

Authorities set up an animal quarantine checkpoint in Barangay Bagong Silangan in Quezon City on Sunday night after African swine fever (ASF) was confirmed to have affected some hogs in the area, according to a report on GMA News' Unang Balita on Monday.

Personnel from the barangay and the Quezon City Veterinary Department manned the checkpoint put up on J.P. Rizal Street.

The transport of live and dead hogs from the barangay has been prohibited.

Meanwhile, entry of pork from other areas is allowed as long as each delivery is covered with the required permits such as shipping permit, meat transport vehicle sticker and veterinary clearance.

On Sunday more than 900 pigs and piglets were culled.

Hog raisers appealed to the local government to give them compensation for the pigs culled.

The local government is studying how much it can give to the hog raisers.

Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte confirmed on Saturday that ASF had caused the deaths of nearly a dozen hogs in the Barangay Bagong Silangan.

"As standard protocol during an animal disease outbreak, hogs within the infected zones (Oriole Extension and Area 5) or within 1-km radius are automatically culled to prevent the ASF from infecting other animals in nearby areas," Belmonte said in a statement.

Belmonte said even before the cases of ASF were confirmed by the Bureau of Animal Industry, the city government already ordered that piggeries within the city be gradually phased out. This is "in keeping with (the city's) land-use plan, which does not contain any zones for agricultural purposes," she added.

The QC mayor promised piggery owners they will receive financial aid and livelihood assistance.

Belmonte said they have asked the Quezon City Police District to deploy personnel to help put up more checkpoints within the 1-kilometer radius of the areas affected by ASF.

Meanwhile, the Quezon City Veterinary Office has intensified monitoring of major public markets and slaughterhouses to prevent the entry of meat infected with ASF and double dead or "botcha" meat.

On Saturday the QC Veterinary Office confiscated mishandled meat in Balintawak Market and inspected a slaughterhouse in Novaliches.

Belmonte added that there are plans to educate hog raisers on ASF and ways to prevent it.

"We assure residents that the local government is on top of the situation and doing everything it can to ensure that the pork being sold in our markets are safe for human consumption," she said.

Marikina

Meanwhile, in Marikina City, a few more dead pigs were found floating in Marikina River on Sunday.

One pig retrieved was estimated to weigh 60 kilos, while another one, a mother pig, weighed 200 kilos.

The city government of Marikina has a lead on where the pigs may have come from.

They have already passed on the information to the Department of Agriculture.

As soon as the information is confirmed, the Marikina local government unit will file civil and criminal charges for violation of the Clean Water Act and the Sanitation Law.

The Bureau of Animal Industry is suspecting that the pig carcasses dumped in the Marikina River, a creek in Barangay Bagong Silangan, and an irrigation canal in Malolos, Bulacan may have come from those who concealed the cases of their hogs from the government amid efforts to avert the spread of ASF in the country.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar on Friday appealed to backyard hog raisers not to conceal but rather immediately report suspicious swine deaths to authorities. —KG, GMA News