The cases of African Swine Fever (ASF) are declining in Davao Region.
Livestock Coordinator Dr. Karl Laurence Pineda of the Department of Agriculture XI (DA XI) reported during the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council – Technical Working Group Meeting that for the last two months, there are only two cases detected in the region.
Dr. Pineda revealed that the two cases are in the provinces of Davao Oriental and Davao del Sur, wherein there is an ongoing monitoring and surveillance, including environmental swabbing.
As of August 15, 2021, 236 barangays in the region were affected by the outbreak, culling a total of 49,315 pigs from 10,664 farmers.
The province of Davao Occidental, where the epidemic started in the first quarter of 2020, has the most number of culled pigs with 23,483 from 5,669 farmers.
This is followed by Davao del Norte with 8,189 culled pigs, Davao del Sur with 6,684, Davao City with 4,463, Davao Oriental with 3,938, and Davao de Oro with 2,558.
Pineda also disclosed that the government has distributed a total of PhP 172.535 million as indemnification for the culled pigs.
He added that another PhP 12.89 million will be released this second or third week of September.
Meanwhile, in Davao de Oro, Provincial Veterinarian Rolando Simene hopes that a vaccine will be made to put an end to ASF.
“Pero samtang wala pa ni vaccine, prevent nalang sa jud ta,” he said. (Since there is still no vaccine yet, we just have to prevent it (ASF).)
He stressed that among the prevention measures he suggested to the piggery owners is to avoid transporting the boar to the gilt, or locally known as ‘himarako.’
“On breeding, mas prefer pa nako ang AI (artificial insemination), pero dapat ang technician should observe proper hygiene and sanitation,” Simene underscored. (On breeding, I prefer more on artificial insemination but the technician should observe proper hygiene and sanitation.)
He added that one way to also prevent the spread of ASF is to prevent the traders and buyers from going inside the piggery. (PIA 11, Michael Uy)
