DAVAO Region, in general, is having a rough start to 2020.
While some provinces are still coping with the destruction wrought by the series of moderately strong earthquakes, Davao City is on heightened alert because of the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak (2019-nCoV).
Before the end of January, the region faced another challenge - this time, saving its hog industry.
At least 1,000 pigs were reported to have died in several barangays in Don Marcelino, Davao Occidental. This spread to neighboring towns.
Some hog raisers feared that the death of these hogs had something to do with the African Swine Fever (ASF), a highly contagious and dangerous disease which had killed thousands of pigs worldwide.
After a series of tests, the Department of Agriculture (DA) confirmed that ASF has reached Mindanao, six months after the first outbreak of the disease in Luzon.
Days after the outbreak in Davao Occidental, the virus reached Davao City after samples taken from six out of the 30 dead hogs in Barangays Lamanan and Dominga in Calinan District were confirmed to have ASF.
As of February 8, a total of 5,155 hogs had already been "depopulated" in Davao Occidental, while 2,750 hogs were culled in Davao City. As of press time, the numbers are increasing.
Each local government unit (LGUs) in the region has implemented a ban on pork and its by-products outside their jurisdiction.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar said the numbers might eventually reach 10,000, depending on the live hogs they would be able to confiscate.
Despite elevated quarantine checkpoints, which have been long implemented, Dar said it is “unfortunate” since pork meat is high in demand in consumer market.
While he said it is only a percentage loss from the current 941,000 live hogs in Davao Region as of January 2020, he said the economic losses might reach as P1 billion per month or more, same as what happened in Luzon in September last year.
Understanding African Swine Fever
According to the United Nations-Food and Agriculture Organization (UN-FAO), ASF is a fatal animal disease affecting pigs and wild boars with a fatality rate of up to 100 percent.
It has the ability to decimate entire populations if not detected and culled at once. The disease is hemorrhagic in nature, causing infected pigs to die within a matter of days.
There is, currently, no cure or vaccine for the disease, which is why governments have resorted to culling as the only solution to preventing the disease’s spread.
ASF virus can be transmitted through pork and pork products, whether raw, frozen, dried or under-cooked. The virus can survive for a long time.
UN-FAO cited that ASF was first discovered in Sub-Saharan Africa at the start of the 20th century and its breakouts have been sporadic over the course of one century.
It has steadily been spreading across the world, first traveling from Africa to Europe where countries such as Spain took 35 years to recover from an ASF outbreak.
In recent years, the disease has moved across the Eurasia continent, affecting countries such as China, Mongolia, North Korea, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, and now the Philippines. In China alone, more than one million hogs have already been culled, and by the end of the year, the country expects to slaughter an additional 200 million infected pigs.
DA, in previous statements, said humans who consume ASF-contaminated meat will not feel its effect since hogs are only affected by it. But humans are considered transmitter of the virus, which should also not be disregarded.
Dar highly discourages patronizing meats from these areas. Traders and sellers, on the other hand, are warned from selling meat with ASF.
How ASF reached Mindanao
While it is still not known how ASF reached the island, despite intensive monitoring and quarantine, Dar said that based on the initial investigation, swill feeding may be a factor on how ASF affected the hogs in Davao Occidental.
Swill, locally known as lamaw, has long been discouraged as food for hogs, as the virus mixed with pork and by-products can be transmitted.
DA-Davao Director Ricardo Oñate said based on the investigation they conducted, the swills may have a mix of contaminated meat and meat by-products from Indonesia, another ASF-affected country.
He also said canned goods with meat bought from Luzon could also being considered as a factor. But “nothing is yet final”, Oñate emphasized, saying that investigation is still ongoing.
Swill-feeding is also being pointed out as the factor why some of the dead hogs in Calinan died due to ASF.
In response to the entry of ASF in the region, LGUs in the region are now strictly monitoring the entry and exit of pork products.
Recently, an auction market in Sulop, Davao del Sur has been temporary closed. The market had been auctioning hogs from Davao Occidental.
DA-Davao director Ricardo Oñate said DA in Koronadal City, South Cotabato was able to seize 42 hogs the traders brought from Sulop. The hogs were immediately culled.
He added that hogs or meats bought from Sulop might have caused ASF-infection in some hogs in Calinan.
Oñate admitted that the hog and meat trade in these areas continue despite the ASF outbreak in the region.
Stopping the spread
Dar said suspected hog deaths undergo blood sample testing to validate whether it is ASF-positive, or other hog-related diseases.
“We follow protocols in doing these test,” the official said, adding the samples are being validated by the Bureau of Animal Industry, a DA attached agency.
Once confirmed, a “1-7-10 Protocol” will be imposed in the affected area or the “ground zero” of the disease outbreak.
Under the protocol, quarantine checkpoints are set up in areas within a 1-kilometer radius of suspected farms—monitoring the movement of live pigs, pork, and pork products.
Oñate said they already sought the assistance of the Philippine National Police in implementing protocol and manning of exit points for possible illegal transport of live susceptible animals from the infected areas.
All live hogs within the kilometer will be culled or killed.
“Even if isa lang ang namatay at nagkataong nagpositive na hog, papatayin talaga lahat ng mga buhay na baboy doon sa area para mapigilan ang pagkalat ng virus (Even if only one hog would be reported dead, and had also become positive to the virus, we will cull all live hogs in the area to prevent the virus from spreading),” Oñate said.
Admittedly, he said convincing farmers to surrender their live animals is not easy.
But they had assured that the government will compensate them, in exchange for the hogs that will be culled. This will be through the indemnity payment program of DA, wherein for every hog culled, P5,000 will be given to the owners.
Dar said some P80 million will be allotted. He said fund had already been requested from the Office of the President.
In addition, Dar said affected hog raisers, which are all backyard raisers, can also avail of DA's P30,000 credit window per hog raisers, which is payable within three years with zero interest.
He also said they will also be giving sucklings for the farmers to start over in their business should the situation on hog raising improve.
Meanwhile, the Davao City government has a counterpart compensation, wherein P20 million will be released as assistance to 2,714 backyard hog raisers in the city.
The City Veterinarian's Office (CVO) will give financial assistance to hog raisers by culling at P1,500 per piglet (suckling), and P5,000 per grower or P90 per kilo, whichever is higher, per grower.
While help is currently on the way, Dar said hog raisers are discouraged from returning to their livelihood, without the validation from DA.
Oñate said the area will be disinfected then will be observed for 30 days. After that, a single hog will be raised in the infected area. It will be monitored to check if it would not experience any disease. If the hog died, chances are the disease has not been fully-eradicated.
Stakeholders' concerns
Hog Farmers Association of Davao Inc. president Eduardo So estimates that P80 billion will be lost in the hog industry if ASF enters the island of Mindanao.
“We need to survive (this outbreak). We are talking of an industry wherein P80 billion will be lost from Mindanao, P20 billion in Davao Region. Dako siya nga pahak sa atong industry (It will be a big loss for our industry),” So said during the 1st Mindanao Hog Raisers’ Forum in September last year.
Hog Farmers of Davao, Inc. (Hog Fadi) past president Alvin Teves, meanwhile, projected live hog industry and its allied sectors would lose P500 billion if ASF enters Visayas and Mindanao.
Dar said they do not yet have an official computation on financial losses brought about by the ASF.
Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag), meanwhile, said in an official statement that millions of backyard hog raisers, rice growers, corn farmers, coconut tillers and sugar workers, viajeros, market vendors, sales agents, and workers across the veterinary and feed milling industry rely on the hog industry.
The Philippine Association of Meat Processors (Pampi), a group of processed meat producers, had expressed concerns as canned meat product sales would have an impact with the ASF.
Sales on pork at public markets had seen a dip.
Marilyn Fuentes, a pork meat vendor in Bangkerohan Public Market, said the customers started declining on February 3. She said it compelled them to slaughter fewer hogs to sell.
“Dati 10 ka baboy ang among ginamatada, karon seven na lang gyud. Naapektuhan gyud sa ASF. Asta gyung mingawa (Before, we slaughter 10 hogs, now we reduced it to seven. We are really affected by the ASF. There were fewer customers),” she said.
Dar said there is no telling when the ASF outbreak would end.
He said a month, or three months perhaps, the recovery from economic losses would commence, if LGUs would properly coordinate and follow protocol.
Increase monitoring and surveillance mechanism must be in place, Dar told.
While both the government and affected stakeholders are taking measures to prevent its further impact, the Agriculture office called the public to be educated, not panic, and lastly, explore other alternatives for the meantime.
"Try other source of livelihood for the meantime. Make use of the government assistance," he suggested to hog raisers.