The government will form a national task force to prevent the spread of swine diseases like the African Swine Fever (ASF), according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).
According to Agriculture Secretary William Dar, the disease might have spread when backyard-raised hogs have been fed with swill infected by the disease.
However Dar assured the ASF in the country has not yet reached the epidemic point. They will also add more personnel at checkpoints in different areas in the country to monitor the transport of pork products.
Dar said most of the pork stocks are backyard-raised or came from small-time hog raisers.
Based on the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) the population of hogs in the country is at 12.7 million heads as of July 2019 and around 8.02 million of them are backyard hogs.
“It’s not a restrictive policy if we have to ask another veterinarian coming from government to come and inspect your breeder stocks bago ita-transport ito, (before it can be transported),” according to Dar.
The Agriculture Department also advised hog raisers to avoid feeding swill to their pigs, limit the number of people entering their cages, and immediately report any sudden deaths.
According to the Bureau of Animal Industry there are still no vaccine for ASF so the issue should immediately be addressed.—AAC (with reports from Rey Pelayo)
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