ILOILO – Three more towns classified as pink (buffer) zones are currently under surveillance for suspected African Swine Fever (ASF) cases.
According to provincial veterinarian, Dr. Darel Tabuada, they extracted blood samples from hog farms in the three towns for analysis at the Regional Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory. The results may be released today.
Citing the report of municipal agriculture officers (MAO), Tabuada said more than 10 hogs in these surveillance areas have died.
“May ara mga unexplained mortality kag daw suspected case sang ASF, that’s why need surveillance, kwaan samples,” said Tabuada.
He declined to name the towns for now to avoid unnecessary panic.
Meanwhile, Tabuada said some barangays do not want their communities to serve as disposal areas for depopulated infected hogs.
“That is why asta subong ang ground zero and those within the .5-km radius of Barangay San Jose (San Miguel) wala naubos depopulate of their hogs. Nagka-problema kita sa burial site. So sa subong gina-una depopulate ang nagakalamatay nga mga baboy and ang farm nga infected,” Tabuada said.
To address this problem, the taskforce is now resorting to onsite or backyard burial and if the backyard could not pass as burial site, the barangay has to identity one area for disposal.
“Ang gina-obra naton barangay-based na kag backyard-based na ang depopulation. Right now kon mapatay ang ila baboy or suspected s’ya, gina-depopulate na lang naton sa ila balay kag dira na sa backyard ginalubong,” said Tabuada, adding that this could also avoid contamination of areas.
However, if the disposal of the infected hogs is done in other areas within the town and not onsite, Tabuada stressed the site should pass the assessment of the Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office (MENRO) and protocols must be strictly followed.
So far, the disposal teams have already depopulated 772 heads of hogs: 688 heads out of 1,112 in Oton and 84 heads out of 149 in San Miguel towns.
In Oton, where the first cases of ASF emerged, 25 barangays reported positive cases of ASF while San Miguel still has two barangays, San Jose and 15; one hog farm, however, was depopulated in nearby Barangay 14 because it was within the 500-meter radius from the infected farm.
In San Miguel also, Tabuada said, they conducted surveillance in Barangay Sta. Teresa because there were reported cases of ASF there.
Data further showed that out of the 404 samples tested from Oton and San Miguel, 179 were positive for ASF./PN
