BAGUIO CITY – The Department of Agriculture in the Cordillera Administrative Region (DA-CAR) is reminding swine raisers anew not to feed pigs with swill or food wastes from establishments, which had been observed as among the causes of African swine fever (ASF).
“Swill feeding was identified as among the sources of ASF that affected several regions in the country, not sparing the Cordillera. We appeal to the hog raisers -- don’t give scrap food because instead of earning from raising livestock, they might lose even their capital,” said Director Jennilyn Dawayan, DA-CAR officer-in-charge, in a phone interview on Wednesday.
ASF, which affected the biggest number of swine heads in a commercial livestock farm in a town in Benguet in 2021 and 2022, was found to have emanated from swill feeding sourced from a restaurant in this city, which is also the source of scrap food fed to small backyard raisers.
“We should learn from our experience that it is better to feed the animals with standard feeds where they are assured of quality, than incur more expenses and even lose the capital in case one of their animals is found to be infected. Once one is infected, there is no choice but to cull all those located within a certain distance,” Dawayan said.
Aside from swill feeding, she said buying of cheap piglets online is another factor to the spread of ASF, with buyers learning later on that the animals they purchased are infected.
Dr. Leisley Deligen, chief of the DA-CAR livestock division, told the Philippine News Agency that cooperation among all hog raisers is needed to sustain the drop in ASF cases in the region.
“We are asking for cooperation. We were able to decrease the cases in 2022 but our 2023 record shows we have an increase. Although slight, we cannot relax our rules or else, we will go back to the same situation in the past,” she said.
Deligen said five ASF cases were recorded in 2019 when the region started to log incidence. The number increased to 65 in 2020, and further to 191 in 2021, that affected 88 villages in 41 municipalities and cities.
The numbers, however, dropped to 42 cases in 2022, covering 26 villages and 16 municipalities and cities.
As of Dec. 1 this year, the DA-CAR had already monitored 49 ASF cases, this time due to online buying of pigs and the “cañao”, a socio-religious ritual where chicken, pigs, or carabaos are butchered to be feasted on.
The veterinarian urged the public to be cautious, and avoid reinfection in areas already cleared or is no longer under the red category.
Record from the regional Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) shows that as of Dec. 1, there are 29 municipalities in the region that have been downgraded from red to pink category, while 12 have been further downgraded to light green.
However, 34 municipalities remain under the red category and are continuously being monitored.
Based on monitoring from feed suppliers, Deligen said there is a growing demand for swine feeds, almost similar to the period prior to the ASF infestation.
“This is a good sign because it translates to more animals being fed. Thus, the presumption of an increase in the animals, of hogs being raised or that hog raisers are observing the no scrap-food feeding, and are opting to go for commercial feeds,” he said in Ilocano.
DA intervention
DA has extended a total of PHP74.01 million worth of assistance to affected swine raisers and municipalities since 2021, and these include distribution of 4,429 sentinel piglets, provisions for veterinary drugs and biologics totalling 775,240 doses, 600 pails of disinfectants, and more than a hundred ASF rapid testing kits. (PNA)