ALL live hogs within the five puroks of Barangay Inayangan in Calinan District, Davao City are now completely depopulated, the Department of Agriculture-Davao Region (DA-Davao) announced Saturday, February 29.
Based on the initial tally gathered by the Davao City Veterinarian’s Office (CVO), an estimated 900 hogs will be slaughtered after samples taken from dead hogs in the area were confirmed positive of African Swine Fever (ASF) virus.
But according to DA-Davao Regional Agriculture and Fisheries Information Section chief Noel Provido, the number of live hogs they culled reached 2,089.
Provido said the depopulation period went from February 23 to 25, wherein 411 affected backyard hog raisers were affected.
He said some hogs were not included in the initial inventory as some raisers hid their hogs to avoid being culled.
“Naa’y mga cases (previously) nga ginataguan maong di dayon nila ma-surrender (Previously, there were cases wherein hog raisers hid their hogs, causing some delays in culling),” Provido told SunStar Davao in a phone interview.
Inayangan is the third barangay in the city to be infected with the hog virus, which has no cure until the present.
Dominga and Lamanan villages, also in Calinan District, are the city’s first “ground zero” for the virus.
Provido said the City Government already handed out cash assistance to affected hog raisers, which were sourced from the P32.2-million financial assistance allotted by the City Mayor’s Office.
The breakdown of the fund assistance covers P27,295,200 for the financial assistance to hog raisers whose hogs will be culled or depopulated, while P5 million will be for other supplies and material expenses which include disinfectants and spray equipment.
The city gave hog raisers P1,500 per surrendered piglet (suckling), and P5,000 per surrendered grower or P90 per kilo per grower, whichever is higher, as financial assistance.
DA has also a counterpart assistance of P5,000 indemnity payment for each pig that will be culled.
However, Provido said they are still requesting the fund from the national government.
Meanwhile, he said they will also conduct a similar protocol implemented in Dominga and Lamanan in Inayangan.
“A decontamination and disinfection activities (in Inayangan) will be conducted for 30 days,” the official said.
Other hogs from neighboring puroks in Inayangan, he said, are also being observed, adding that samples were also taken to determine if they are affected with the virus.
As of now, Provido said they hope the virus is now contained following the slaughtering of the hogs within the one-kilometer radius.
At present, he said DA has not received any latest suspicious hog death within the “1-7-10 Protocol”.
The 1-7-10 Protocol means hogs will be prohibited from entering or leaving the area in the one-kilometer radius from the site of infection or ground zero and hogs in the area will be depopulated. Meanwhile, hogs will be strictly monitored, and blood testing is done in the 7-kilometer radius, whereas mandatory monitoring and reporting of swine disease occurrences will be implemented in the 10-kilometer radius.