Iloilo’s Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) is targeting to depopulate over 300 heads of hogs in two villages in San Miguel town where the latest cases of African swine fever (ASF) were discovered.
Provincial Veterinarian Dr. Darel Tabuada, in an interview on Thursday, said they plan to include those within the .5-kilometer radius in Barangays 15 and San Jose.
There are others, however, who refused to submit their hogs to depopulation, he added.
The PVO is currently verifying the population affected in Barangay 15, which initial information is over 140 heads. The barangay is where the latest infections were discovered, the official said, while the ASF cases in San Jose were confirmed on Oct. 24.
Tabuada said that they target to complete the depopulation on Friday so they start with the surveillance in areas outside of the 1-kilometer radius.
“We will conduct surveillance to know the extent of the spread of the virus in other barangays,” he said.
Tabuada and his team also held a meeting with around 300 farmers in the municipality where they discussed concerns such as losses, prices of hogs within San Miguel, and marketing of hogs outside the municipality, which is prohibited since it is identified as a “red” or infected zone.
The PVO official added that they have already depopulated over 600 hogs out of the more or less 1,000 ASF-positive pigs in Oton town.
The virus, first reported to have infected pigs in Barangay Bita Norte on Oc. 13, has been recorded in 23 villages of the town.
Meanwhile, the provincial government here is mulling the declaration of a state of calamity for faster release of assistance to hog growers affected by the ASF.
Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr., in a press conference on Thursday, said he could not declare a state of calamity yet because he has yet to get the numbers and craft the criteria for qualified beneficiaries.
“We have damaged livestock but we don’t have numbers because its continuing. Mga next week ma declares sang state of calamity (Around next week we can declare the state of calamity),” he added.
The province, he said, is developing a package of support for hog farmers affected by the disease.
Initially, the plan was to provide PHP10,000 and a sack of rice to complement the PHP10,000 assistance to individuals in crisis situation of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
Defensor also will convene the Local Price Coordinating Council on Friday to discuss and consult about the prices or movement of pork products in the province
Source: Philippines News Agency