Garcia said tests should be conducted only if the hogs manifest ASF symptoms, Sugbo News, the Capitol’s official news platform, reported Tuesday, March 14, 2023.
The development comes just as Cebu City announced that it is stepping up its animal health surveillance by conducting daily testing of pigs in several barangays to prevent the entry of the ASF virus.
Hogs with ASF exhibit symptoms like fever, vomiting, diarrhea, and reddening or darkening of the skin, among others.
The governor called on Department of Agriculture in Central Visayas (DA 7) Director Angel Enriquez Tuesday to stop the random testing of the pigs, after she expressed doubts about whether the pigs in a Carcar slaughterhouse which were reported to have tested positive for ASF last March 1 actually tested positive for ASF, or just hog cholera, since there were no mass pig deaths that followed the discovery of the positive results.
ASF is a highly contagious viral disease of pigs whose mortality rate can reach 100 percent. Infected pigs are said to die within days of an infection.
However, the ordinary swine fever, more commonly known as hog cholera, also causes similar symptoms as ASF, but pigs with hog cholera may survive.
Even in the case of hogs that exhibit symptoms, Garcia suggested holding off on doing tests. Instead, she suggested isolating and observing the pigs first and disinfecting the affected areas before conducting tests.
Last week, Carcar City Mayor Mario Patrick Barcenas said blood samples taken from pigs in three of the city’s barangays had tested positive for ASF.
This set off the scheduling of the culling of 300 pigs found within the 500-meter radius of the affected barangays. Of these, 141 pigs had been put to death before the governor ordered the suspension of the cull on Monday.
Garcia has questioned the results on the pigs that tested positive for ASF, saying their blood samples were subjected to only one test instead of the required three to determine ASF, and that spleen samples had also not been taken.
In Carcar City, Administrator Jose Marie Poblete welcomed the governor’s order to stop the pig cull, revealing in the Open Line News forum Tuesday that Mayor Barcenas had been hesitant to implement the cull because he felt sorry for the backyard hog farmers.
Poblete said the hog raisers had invested a large sum of money to operate their backyard farms while some had taken out loans to fund them.
He said the city’s hog industry, which includes backyard pig farming, and production of pork meat, roasted pig (lechon) and chicharon, generated P120 million to P150 million in revenues yearly based on the City Veterinary Office’s estimate.
The City Government has discovered that there are more than 1,000 people in the city who run backyard hog farms in addition to the 50 registered operators.
These hog farmers raise a minimum of two to 50 pigs in their respective areas.
Poblete said the city does not have commercial hog farmers. Rather, it has a large number of backyard hog raisers that provide the entire Cebu province with pork meat and byproducts.
Cebu City
In Cebu City, the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Fisheries (DVMF) has been conducting daily testing of pigs in several barangays to prevent the entry of ASF after pigs in Carcar were reported to have tested positive for the pig-killing virus.
DVMF head Dr. Jessica Maribojoc told SunStar Cebu Tuesday, that the collection of blood samples from pigs is being done not only in Bulacao but in 13 other barangays as well where pig deaths have been reported.
Maribojoc made the clarification after officials and residents of Barangay Bulacao expressed alarm at their village being placed under the scope of the DVMF due to reports of pig mortalities.
Blood samples of pigs from Barangays Tisa, Buhisan, Cogon Pardo, Inayawan, Cambinocot, Sudlon, Busay, Toong, Sudlon 2, Lusaran, Bonbon, Baba and Budlaan were also collected by the DVMF.
There are around 3,600 pigs being raised by backyard farmers located in these 13 barangays.
Maribojoc said all samples were submitted to the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Animal Industry and all turned out negative for the virus. Some of the pigs had died due to pneumonia, rather than ASF.
Oratio Imperata
Despite ASF already taking a toll on the livelihood of some Cebuanos, Msgr. Joseph Tan, spokesperson for the archdiocese, told SunStar Cebu Tuesday that the Archdiocese of Cebu will not release an Oratio Imperata or obligatory prayer for protection against ASF.
“Regarding ASF, no prayer yet. I think the CBCP (Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines) will be the one to initiate that for the country so it will be uniform if ever they will have one,” Tan said.
Bans
The Cebu Provincial Government and the three independent cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu have imposed bans on live hogs and pork products coming from Carcar City.
Mandaue’s bans extend to the four towns adjacent to Carcar, while Cebu City’s ban covers 17 local government units in Cebu.
Cebu Province and Lapu-Lapu City have also banned the entry of live hogs and pork from Negros Island after the DA 7 said the pigs that tested positive in Carcar originally came from Negros Island. (CTL, EHP, IRT, KJF)