MANILA – Samples drawn from around 1,000 dead pigs in Don Marcelino town, Davao Occidental tested positive for African swine fever (ASF) – the first confirmed cases of the hog disease in Mindanao, a local government official confirmed on Saturday.
The pigs came from barangays Lindasan, North Lamidan, South Lamidan, Calian, Mabuhay, Lawa, Nueva Villa, and Baluntayan in the town, according to Mayor Michael Maruya of Don Marcelino.
The Department of Agriculture Region IX and Provincial Veterinarian Office carried out the sampling.
Mindanao Development Authority secretary and former Agriculture chief Manny Piñol also confirmed the development.
The local government of Don Marcelino has ordered the activation of a Regional Animal Disease Task Force to focus on ASF cases in the province.
Transporting hogs in and out of the municipality, as well as selling pig meat will be prohibited, Maruya said as the local government imposed a temporary lockdown in the municipality.
Authorities will also establish animal quarantine checkpoints in entry points around the municipality.
The Philippines confirmed its first case of ASF in Sep. 2019, prompting a ban on meat products from countries where the hog disease was first reported.
The outbreak was first confirmed in hog farms in Luzon, where thousands of pigs have been culled to contain the disease.
In November, the agriculture department said the local outbreak was caused by smuggled pork products from China.(With a report from ABS-CBN News/PN)
