ASF cases in Bontoc villages up with 197

By Alpine C. Killa

BONTOC, Mountain Province -- Municipal officials here confirmed rising number of pigs infected with African swine fever (ASF) virus.
    Municipal Agriculturist Renato Falag-ey, Bontoc recorded a total of 197 swines infected with ASF from October 2021 to February 2022.
    Falag-ey said 156 were recorded in Barangay Samoki, 27 in Poblacion and nine in Bontoc Ili.
    Affected areas in Barangay Samoki were Sitio Riverside, Khefa, Pawek, Sadlan, Khawana, Fagkhay, Attor, Sadlan and Kalonglong. In Barangay Poblacion is Sitio Cheppay.
    Affected in Barangay Bontoc Ili were Sitios Foyayeng, Pattig and Sokok.
    The National Meat Inspection Service said ASF is a highly contagious viral disease that affects pigs, warthogs and boars.
    It causes pigs to have high fever and lose appetite.
    It causes hemorrhage in skin and internal organs.
    Pigs die in a span of two to 10 days upon affliction.
    There is no vaccine to cure the disease infecting pigs.
    The ASF can be transmitted or spread through direct contact with infected animal’s body fluids and ticks that feed on infected animals, Falag-ey said. People are also a source of spread as they can move the virus on vehicles or clothing.
    Agricultural Technologist Sheryl Kate Tumingeb of the Office of the Municipal Agriculturist said from the first confirmed case of ASF hog in October last year, the OMAg, in partnership with the Office of the Provincial Veterinarian (OPVet) and Livestock Alliance of Technicians, disinfected pigpens, intensified information education and communication campaigns to hog raisers, swabbing on pigpens, and blood sampling for ASF and mass disinfection.
    The disinfectants were provided by the OPVet and Universal Robina Corp.
    The ASF Municipal Task Force urged the public, meat vendors, and butchers that pigs raised and butchered in the ASF-affected areas be sold and consumed within said area.
    The task force urged the public to refrain from buying fresh or frozen pork products coming from outside the province.
    Likewise, consumers from outskirt villages of Bontoc were advised not to buy live or butchered pigs from identified ASF-affected areas to prevent the spread of the disease.
    Backyard hog raisers are told not to feed the pigs with swill (scraps of waste food), main cause of the spread of ASF. Pig farmers were also advised to strictly comply with biosecurity protocols.