Cebu City urges public not buy canned meat products from ASF-affected areas

DUE to the continued threat of African Swine Fever (ASF) to the hog industry, the Department of Veterinary Medicines and Fisheries (DVMF) of Cebu City has urged the public not to buy and eat canned meat products from areas affected by the fatal hog disease.

In its campaign, the DVMF confiscated 2,636 kilos of canned meat products from ASF-affected areas in the Philippines and abroad, especially from China, in the month of November.

The products were confiscated from different stores in the province during the DVMF personnel’s inspection.

The products were immediately burned to prevent human consumption.

Through this, the entry of ASF in Central Visayas will be avoided especially in Cebu that continues to remain ASF-free as the disease led to millions of hogs being culled in the country since 2019.

Due to the strict protocols put in place by the local government of Cebu Province to prevent the entry of meat products, including canned and processed meat products, it remains free from ASF.

In addition, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) appealed to the public not to buy products like pork luncheon meat, pork ham, dried pork, pork leg with mushroom and stew pork chops.

FDA said it found out that most of the products came from places affected by ASF.

ASF does not harm humans, but it is deadly to hogs. If human waste from someone who ate ASF-contaminated meat products was not disposed of properly, it would infect hogs nearby.

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia has ordered the pork ban in the province since ASF arrived in the country in order to protect the P11-billion hog industry in Cebu.

Garcia implemented a ban against the entry of meat and meat-related products in 2019 in an effort to protect the industry. This is after the Department of Agriculture declared an ASF outbreak in Luzon, Mindanao, Leyte and Samar.