MANILA – The areas affected by African swine fever (ASF) are now down to 39 barangays, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Wednesday.
This is a significant reduction from the 66 ASF-infected areas logged at the end of February based on the DA Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) data.
DA spokesperson Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said most of the reported areas have a single ASF-affected barangay, while the highest was recorded in Torrijos, Marinduque with four affected barangays.
“As of March 14, lalo pang bumaba iyong number of active cases to 39 barangays na lamang in (the number of active cases dropped to just 39 villages in) 27 municipalities and seven regions. Karamihan nito ay nasa Region 7, in particular sa Bohol, iyong concentration na lang ng (Majority of these are in Central Visayas, particularly in Bohol, the only concentration of) active cases,” he said in a media interview.
De Mesa attributed the sharp decline to the DA’s stringent border measures, ongoing government-controlled vaccination, and the nearing summer season.
In terms of ASF vaccination, he said 27,937 doses out of the 160,000 available AVAC live vaccines have been administered in 29 farms in Luzon.
These include farms in Lobo and Lipa City in Batangas; Tarlac City; Tanay, Rizal; Paete, Laguna; and various areas in Bulacan including San Miguel, San Ildefonso, Sta. Maria, Pulilan, Bulakan, and Angat.
“So, dito sa lahat, mayroong (in all these, there’s a) mortality out of the 29,000, mayroong 51 na namatay. So, napakaliit noon (there’s 51 deaths. So that was very small),” de Mesa said.
The 29,000 administered doses include 10,000 AVAC live vaccines distributed under emergency procurement.
De Mesa expressed hopes to continue bringing down the number of ASF-affected areas in the country through continuous government intervention, especially the target commercialization of ASF AVAC live vaccines before the third quarter of the year when common sickness among hogs spikes. (PNA)