Bacolod City – The African Swine Fever (ASF) virus has been detected in Dauin, Negros Oriental, as reported by the Agriculture Department’s Bureau of Animal Industry.
Dauin Mayor Galicano Truita has issued an executive order for the temporary ban on the entry and exit of swine, including fresh and frozen pork products, as well as suspension of swine-related activities in the town.
Truita also ordered the municipal ASF task force to conduct the immediate culling of pigs in Puroks 1 and 2 in Brgy. Maayong Tubig, Dauin and within a 500-meter radius.
The executive order issued by Mayor Truita took effect on May 20.
Negros Occidental, which remains ASF- free as of this time, as confirmed by the Department of Agriculture, has been on heightened alert ever since the detection of the ASF virus Panay, Guimaras, Cebu, and now in Negros Oriental.
The Provincial Veterinary Office reported that more than 2,400 pigs in Negros Occidental, especially in the 4th district of Negros Occidental, have died of hog cholera and other diseases.
However, laboratory examinations of 27 samples taken from swine in San Enrique, Negros Occidental yielded negative results for ASF, which has symptoms similar to hog cholera, which is attributed as the cause deaths of pigs in Negros Occidental, the PVO reports indicated.
The possibility of a hog cholera outbreak declaration in some Negros Occidental local government units, in connection with thousands of swine deaths, is now being entertained by the Provincial Veterinarian Office.
More random blood samples were also taken from swine in Bacolod City, as well as Valladolid, with results are expected to be known this week. (Gilbert Bayoran via The Visayan Daily Star (TVDS), photo courtesy of TVDS)