The Department of Agriculture (DA) announced on Thursday that it is intensifying checkpoints in North Luzon to prevent the further spread of African Swine Fever (ASF) in the region.
In an interview on Magandang Umaga Pilipinas, Swine and Poultry Assistant Secretary Dante Palabrica revealed that the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) is closely monitoring North Luzon, which, along with Quezon and Laguna, has reported ASF cases.
"Ang ginagawa natin, mga pangalawa nang linggo ngayon, ay mahigpit na checkpoints para hindi kumalat mula norte papuntang south, at mahigit 300 baboy na ang ibinaon nating baboy, ito yung mga nahuhuli sa checkpoint at nagpositive," Palabrica explained.
He noted that the checkpoints operate under two classifications: first, when documents are found to be fake, and second, when symptoms of ASF are detected in pigs. In such cases, blood samples are taken from the animals to determine if they are positive or negative for the virus.
"Kung positive [ang baboy sa ASF], diretso na ito sa libingan, pero pag negative, pinakakawalan na ito para makatay na sa slaughterhouses," said Palabrica.
"Kapag dumaan ka sa checkpoints [para sa ASF], kapag nakitang peke [ang dokumento], ang mangyayari ay idadala ito sa Bureau of Animal Industry, kukunan ng dugo at sa loob ng 4-5 oras ay lalabas na agad ang resulta. Yung mga nahuhuli sa checkpoint, dadaan pa rin naman sila sa proseso ng culling at ito'y ililibing sa burial site na identified ng Bureau of Animal Industry," he furthered.
Farms with confirmed ASF cases will have their pigs culled, and the government will compensate the farmers between P5,000 and P8,000 per pig, and P12,000 for sows. This compensation will be implemented starting this September.
However, pigs that have already died, totaling over 10,000, will not be compensated as they perished without government oversight, due to the required procedural steps.
"Bukas ay magkakaroon na kami ng controlled vaccination ng ASF, uunahin namin ang apektadong bayan ng Lobo, Batangas upang malaman kung itong sistema ng pagbabakuna ay makahihinto sa paglaganap ng sakit," Palabrica added.
Meanwhile, Batangas is still identified as the ground zero for ASF cases.
