THE Department of Agriculture (DA) has confirmed the spread of African Swine Fever (ASF) in Barangay 84, San Jose in Tacloban City following the sample collected from the said area.

Angel Enriquez, DA-Eastern Visayas regional executive director, met with Tacloban Mayor Alfred Romualdez to hand over the latest confirmatory laboratory result and discussed the “necessary measures for the rapid containment and elimination of the disease and the indemnification process as government's support to affected livestock raisers and farmers.”

In a statement, the DA said these measures include the “mandatory humane slaughter and proper disposal of all pigs within the 500-meter radius infected zone.”

The DA official also urged the city government “to strengthen its border control, investigation and surveillance activities to protect other barangays identified as green zone areas.”

Enriquez said the ASF case in Tacloban “is considered to be isolated.”

Meanwhile, City Veterinarian Eunice Alcantara said the tentative date for the culling of at least nine ASF-infected pigs is set on Friday afternoon, February 26.

“The infected pigs are owned by a backyard raiser in Manlurip,” Alcantara told Sunstar Philippines.

She also called on the public to be vigilant and help provide information to the authorities on ASF.

The city government also assured it full support to manage, contain and control the spread of animal disease.

DA said ASF cases were recorded in the towns of Abuyog, McArthur, Javier, Burauen, La Paz, Tanauan, Pastrana, and Palo in Leyte. (SunStar Philippines)