DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Davao region remains free from African Swine Fever (ASF), an official from the Department of Agriculture in the area (DA-XI) recently declared.
Dr. Armie Capuyan, the DA-XI focal person for ASF told reporters that there is no case of such fever monitored in the region at present.
“We would like to clarify the report from a national news outfit regarding the death of 100 hogs in Davao City that it was already verified by the City Veterinarian’s Office (CVO) and it could not be linked to ASF,” Capuyan said.
She added that DA-XI and CVO have already met with a small hog-raisers association involved in the report for an investigation.
“There is no reported recent mortality,” Capuyan clarified, adding that the reported 100 deaths are within a period of eight months.
“There is no truth to the news and we don’t want people to panic,” she pointed out. She also explained that the deaths of the hogs are not disease-related.
“As per the interview (we made) of that small hog raisers during the investigation, it was found out that the cause of the death of the hogs is heat stroke and other factors during transport of hogs,” Capuyan said.
She also made an assurance that DA-XI and other concerned agencies and stakeholders have strengthened their surveillance, quarantine, and cooperation programs and activities.
“We want to intensify our steps in the region on the information dissemination, surveillance, and quarantine especially on the Local Government Unit (LGU) level,” Capuyan said.
She also reminded the hog-raisers to take preventive measures against ASF to maintain the ASF-free status of the region.
“Hog raisers should avoid swill-feeding. They should also intensify their bio-security measures even if they are just backyard raisers,” Capuyan said.
She added that raisers should always maintain cleanliness in the hog cages.
“Also, if they observe some symptoms of ASF among their swine, they should always immediately report it to us so that we can investigate and get sample to confirm the diseases that might have been inflicted to the swine. Let’s not jump to conclusions because even us the veterinarians, we still have to get laboratory examinations to confirm one disease,” she said. (davaotoday.com)
