African swine fever detected in 4 barangays in Magpet, Cotabato —DA exec

KIDAPAWAN CITY - At least four remote villages in the town of Magpet, Cotabato have been found to be positive for African swine fever (ASF), an official of the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Monday. 

 DA-12 Regional Director Arlan M. Mangelen said the villages of Ilian, Kiantog, Tagbac and Magca-alam were found to be contaminated with ASF based on the blood samples collected from hogs in these areas.

Mangelen said blood samples were sent to the Regional Animal Diagnostic Laboratory in General Santos City.

The agriculture official said processed meat from the nearby Davao region could be the source of the ASF that affected the hog industry in Magpet.

“There are reports that processed meat (chorizo) was the culprit with regards the spread of ASF in these villages,” Mangelen said without explaining how it contaminated the live pigs in the said villages.

Mangelen said the local officials in Magpet as well as the Provincial Veterinary Office in Cotabato were already informed about the matter for them to act on containing the spread of ASF in nearby villages and outside Magpet.

Live pigs in the affected areas in Magpet were culled last Friday and will continue this week, the DA regional director disclosed.

Mangelen however cannot give the exact heads of pigs culled in the four villages in Magpet as he is still waiting for the submission of complete reports from the field.

“We will compensate the affected hog raisers in these places,” Mangelen said.

Cotabato Governor Nancy Catamco has ordered the Provincial Veterinary Office to establish one-kilometer quarantine checkpoints in the affected villages to contain the disease among hogs in Magpet.

The governor also asked the LGU to observe the protocol particularly the five-kilometer radius of prohibiting the ferrying of live pigs and even processed meat in the areas positive for ASF.

“Let us cooperate. Please report any suspicious activity concerning the movement of live pigs and the entry and deliveries of hogs in your respected areas, even in places that still ASF-free,” Catamco said.

Catamco also appealed to all mayors in Cotabato to be vigilant and monitor all hog raisers in their respective areas to ensure that their towns are still ASF-free.

In Mlang town, Mayor Russel Abonado ordered the Municipal Agriculture Office to check the alleged proliferation of meat stands along the national highway.

Abonado however assured the public that all meat sold in the public market came from a slaughterhouse accredited "double A" by the National Meat Inspection Services. —KG, GMA News