INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

TAGBILARAN CITY — The African swine fever (ASF) has spread to another municipality in Bohol province.

Batuan, 51 km from Tagbilaran City, has recorded ASF cases, where at least 39 pigs died in Barangay Poblacion Sur.

This happened after ASF cases were recorded in Barangay San Vicente in San Miguel town, Bohol last month.

READ: 25 areas in Ilocos Region still under ASF red zone

Mariflor Pagador, municipal agriculturist, said at least 39 pigs died in Purok 2 and 7 in Barangay Poblacion Sur from Nov. 20 to Dec. 4.

She said the deaths were reported to her office only on Nov. 30.

Blood samples from pigs were brought to the Regional Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (RADDL) in Barangay Lomangog in Ubay town and tested positive for ASF.

Blood samples were also sent to the RADDL in Cebu for confirmatory results and still yielded positive for ASF.

Pagador said 12 pigs had been culled in the affected areas, with some buried alive.

On Dec. 4, affected hog raisers were called for a meeting by the Office of the Provincial Veterinarian (OPV) led by acting veterinarian Dr. Meydallyn Paman.

Paman said the Bohol provincial government would buy piglets in the affected village for P5,000 each, fattening pigs for P8,000 each, and sows/boars for P12,000 each, to be culled to prevent the spread of the ASF.

Affected households will also receive financial assistance of P10,000 each from the provincial government and the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Poblacion Sur has 301 households with 48 families raising pigs in their backyard to supplement their income.

Quarantine protocols and checkpoints have been implemented to restrict the movement of pigs and pork products.

Batuan Mayor Antonino Jumawid urged his constituents to be vigilant and cooperate with the ASF Task Force in the barangay and the local government under the guidance of the provincial task force and the OPV.

“Let’s ask the experts and authorities about the procedures that will be implemented. There is a team in OPV that guides the barangay and city now,” he said in a statement posted on Facebook on Wednesday night, Nov. 4.

Bohol Gov. Erico Aristotle Aumentado issued Wednesday Executive Order 55, which declared Poblacion Sur as having been affected by the ASF.

He said no movement of pigs, incoming and outgoing, shall be allowed in the area within three months starting Dec. 4.

All piggery/pens/backyard pig areas with ASF positive results, shall be cordoned off, and prohibit any entry except for disinfection conducted by authorized personnel within 30 days.

Aumentado said households with ASF-infested pigs should install foot mats in their residence and observe proper disinfection and sanitation when leaving.

All remaining feeds and other contaminated implements in the piggery/pigpen/farm shall be disposed of through burning or burial.

Bohol has been on alert against ASF since 2019 to protect the province’s P6-billion hog industry.

According to the World Organisation for Animal Health, ASF is a highly contagious viral disease of domestic and wild pigs whose mortality rate could reach 100 percent.

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It said ASF is not dangerous to human health but affects pig populations and the farming economy.lucky7

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