Upon receiving reports of African Swine Fever (ASF) incidence in Davao Occidental, Agriculture Secretary William Dar on February 2, 2020, conferred with local officials, government veterinarians, private sector, and hog raisers to issue needed directives to manage, contain, and control the disease and stop it from spreading.
He said the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Animal Industry (DA-BAI) laboratory in Quezon City has tested the blood samples taken from affected hogs, particularly in Don Marcelino, and found them positive of ASF.
“Hence, we will strictly implement the 1-7-10 protocol in Don Marcelino and in other identified affected areas. Depopulation of hogs within the 1-km radius will be observed,” Dar said.
“The DA will pay P5,000 per head of culled pig, regardless of age. We welcome additional assistance from other agencies and from the provincial local government unit (PLGU) of Davao Occidental, led by Governor Claude Bautista, who committed to buy all the affected hogs in the province,” the DA chief added.
“We will implement a total lockdown, wherein there will be no transport and sale of hogs, pork, and processed pork and by-products in Don Marcelino and Malita, Davao Occidental,” he said.
The DA, in tandem with the provincial and municipal LGUs, will conduct an inventory of swine population in the entire province and monitor their health condition. To date, the province has a population of 100,000 hogs.
The DA will also provide SURE Aid loans worth P30,000 each to affected hog raisers. The loan, which has zero-interest and payable in three years, can be used to fund other livelihood or agri-fishery projects.
Emergency consultations
For his part, DA Regional Field Office (DA-RFO) 11 Director Ricardo M. Onate, Jr. convened an emergency meeting on January 30, attended by the Davao Occidental provincial veterinarian, municipal agriculture officers of Don Marcelino and Malita, and officers of the PNP, AFP, PENRO, MENRO, PHO, PDRRMO, MDRRMO of Don Marcelino, and DA-BAI veterinary quarantine service.
DA-BAI National Director Ronnie Domingo instructed the Davao regional Veterinary Quarantine Officers (VQOs) to extend full assistance in restricting animal movement, following the 1-7-10 protocol in affected barangays.
Likewise, he instructed other regional VQOs in Mindanao to strictly enforce quarantine procedures and monitor animal movement.
Secretary Dar commended Governor Bautista and respective mayors of the two towns for enforcing a lockdown and establishing 24/7 quarantine checkpoints, secured by Barangay Tanod and uniformed AFP and PNP personnel.
The DA chief also instructed Director Domingo to ask the DA-BAI regional VQOs to conduct a “trace-back” and “trace-forward” investigations, particularly in areas where Don Marcelino actively trades with like the towns of Malita, Santa Maria, Jose Abad Santos, all in Davao Occidental and Sulop, in Davao Del Sur.
Secretary Dar presided a meeting yesterday with local officials and VQOs to discuss needed interventions, including identifying the disposal sites for culled hogs and conduct of an inventory of the total swine population in affected areas.
He called on for strong cooperation among hog raisers and traders to stop the transport and sale of live hogs, and pork products from suspected areas.
The DA-RFO 11 Quick Response Team, together with the Davao Occidental provincial veterinary office and municipal agriculture office of Don Marcelino conducted an investigation on January 29, in eight affected barangays (Linadasan, North Lamidian, South Lamidian, Calian, Mabuhay, Lawa, Nueva Villa and Baluntaya).
The composite team also reported ASF incidence in seven barangays in the adjacent town of Malita (Bgy Bito, Kidalapong, Tubalan, Felis, Mana, Talogoy, and New Argao).
Laboratory examinations of affected animals revealed similarities of lesions for classical swine fever or hog cholera and ASF.
Blood samples were collected and submitted to the DA-BAI Region 12 animal disease diagnostic laboratory in General Santos City on January 30. They were found positive for ASF and confirmed by the DA-BAI laboratory in QC.
The National ASF Task Force, composed of the DILG, DTI, DOH-FDA, and other concerned government agencies, chaired by the President, will be tapped by Secretary Dar to apply the “whole of the nation” approach and lessons learned in managing, controlling and containing the disease in Davao Occidental.
The DA-NMIS also ordered all its regional offices in Mindanao to strictly monitor all pigs and livestock for slaughter, ensure that they are disease-free, and conduct appropriate investigations if some show signs of infection.
The private sector in Davao Occidental is also complementing the monitoring and quarantine efforts of the DA-RFO11, DA-BAI, DA-NMIS, and provincial and municipal government units to detect and prevent the disease from spreading.
Secretary Dar ordered all concerned DA offices to extend technical assistance to affected hog raisers, ensure food safety at all times, and strictly enforce the 1-7-10 protocol.
He also reiterates that ASF is non-transmissible to humans, and that pork is safe to eat.
Finally, he urges all consumers to always look for the seal of the DA-NMIS that ensures that all poultry and livestock animals are disease-free before they are slaughtered. ### (DA Communications Group)
——-
Reference:
Noel Ocampo Reyes
Spokesperson and Ass’t. Sec. for Comms.
and Media Affairs
CP: 09204889686 or 09566694611
Phone: 89298183
