To prevent African swine fever from spreading across the country, the Agriculture department has boosted quarantine measures following an outbreak in Davao Occidental.
READ: State of calamity in ASF-hit Davao
‘‘Elevated quarantine measures are being worked out by the Department of Agriculture and is advising regions to elevate quarantine measures,’’ Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a statement after President Rodrigo Duterte presided over a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday night.
The National Meat Inspection Service in the Caraga Region has heightened its alert level against the African swine fever following the entry of the disease recently in Davao.
NMIS-13 Regional Technical Director Dario Bonifacio Canillas said they were now implementing strict inspections of the slaughterhouses in the region.
The Department of Agriculture in SOCCSKSARGEN has stepped up the monitoring of hog farms in South Cotabato due to the suspected entry of the African swine fever.
John Pascual, DA-12 technical director for operations, said Wednesday surveillance teams had been dispatched to collect samples from animals in the area to determine possible infections.
In the Cabinet meeting, Agriculture Secretary William Dar said Davao Occidental had been placed on lockdown while the sale of live pigs and pork products from suspected ASF-infected areas had been banned.
His department is monitoring the seven barangays in the nearby town of Malita with reported swine fever cases: Bito, Kidalapong, Tubalan, Felis, Mana, Talogoy and New Argao.
It is also set to investigate allegations that some unscrupulous traders were allegedly mislabeling imported feed meals to circumvent the import ban on ASF-hit countries.
The local hog industry is losing about P900 million per month due to the virus, according to the department.
The outbreak in Davao Occidental was the first case of ASF in Mindanao several months after the outbreak in Luzon.
ASF, a fatal animal disease among hogs, was first reported in seven areas in Luzon: Bulacan, Cavite, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Quezon City, and Rizal.
Duterte earlier directed all executive departments, bureaus, and agencies to adopt policies and institute measures to manage, contain and control the transmission of ASF in the country.
READ: Contain ASF in Davao Occidental, DA orders
Government offices were also directed to provide assistance, alternative livelihood, and skills training to the hog raisers affected.