AT LEAST six towns in Benguet Province remained African Swine Fever (ASF) free.
Doctor Miriam Tiongan, Provincial Veterinarian said out of the 13 towns of Benguet, the six ASF free municipalities are Bakun, Mankayan, Kibungan, Kapangan, Tublay, and Bokod while the towns of Kabayan, Tuba, Itogon, La Trinidad, Buguias, Atok, and Sablan have recorded ASF cases.
To save the remaining barangays and towns in Benguet from being infected by ASF, hog raisers are asked to refrain from buying hogs online, swill feeding, and strengthen biosecurity measures.
In the last Provincial Inter-Agency Task Force for Covid-19 meeting, Tiongan said the virus has already reached the northern towns of the province.
She explained the recent cases of ASF involved seven pigs affected in one pigpen in Buyacaoan in Buguias, and two in Caliking, Atok. Both ASF cases were recorded in August.
The Benguet Provincial Veterinary Office recorded zero ASF cases for September.
It was in February this year when the first confirmed cases of ASF were recorded, since then, there were 864 pigs culled in the province.
Tiongan reported they are implementing the ‘test and destroy’ policy. Once a hog is tested positive for ASF, it is immediately culled.
The provincial veterinarian disclosed various factors that cause ASF such as buying pigs online, the continuous swill feeding locally known as ‘arasaw.’
Tiongan also stressed the need for local hog raisers to strengthen their biosecurity measures within the pigpen while appealing to all hog raisers to report to their office if their pigs are sick or dying so they can implement proper measures.
For biosecurity measures, hog raisers must put a fence within their pig pen and prohibit entry of buyers inside, place a footbath that has disinfectant/bleach and water in the entrance of the pigpen, refrain from bringing meat inside the pigpen, and make sure that all pigs underwent to the animal quarantine station if bought outside Benguet.
To save the remaining municipalities not affected by ASF, she added they also enjoined ASF-affected hog raisers to help in the information education campaign for the virus.
ASF is a severe viral disease affecting domestic and wild pigs. There is still no vaccine for the virus.