Bohol needs emergency teams to contain ASF

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, Feb 29 (PIA)—Bohol can only say it has prepared from the dreaded African Swine Fever (ASF) if it can put up emergency response teams prior to and after a reported suspected case, says an officials of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

DA Regional Executive Director Salvador Diputado, in a meeting with Bohol mayors and livestock stakeholders at the Sta Fe Hall of the Dao Diamond Hotel said this as he stresses that preparedness and readiness against the hog viral infection is tough with government procurement still bugged with bureaucratic processes.

ASF is a viral disease that has hit and destroyed piggery industries across the globe, has hit several provinces in Luzon and recently in Davao, with yet unconfirmed reports reaching Valencia Bukidnon.

Diputado, whose agency is also in charge with the Bureau of Animal Industry, has been leading the region’s pro-active and reactive efforts to keep the region ASF free since August of 2019 to present.

With temporary total bans implemented in Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental and Siquijor, against live pigs and boar semen, pork and pork products whether raw or processed, including pork feeds from ASF-affected areas, the DA has also been goading local government units to set up counter measures to deny the entry of the diseases that has the potency to wipe out the P16 billion local hog industry in Bohol, according to Provincial Veterinarian Stella Marie Lapiz.

Amidst the preparations, the DA director impressed on a coordinated approach to contain possible spread of the virus, should a case be noted in Bohol.

“We can only say we are ready if we can put up measures to contain the disease, should a report come,” he said during the meeting which also included municipal agricultural officers, mayors of towns with ports of entry and municipal meat inspectors.

The DA director proposed the creation of barangay site maps showing houses with back yard piggery.

Mayors must be on the frontline, knowing the puroks where there is a congregation of pigs are, so that at the onset of a report of possible infection, he will know the first kilometer radius where strict security measures can be put up to contain the possible spread of the virus.

In ASF incidents, the mandatory protocol involves mandatory checkpoints on kilometer 1, kilometer 7 and kilometer 10, to make sure the infection can not cross and affect other areas.

In cases like this, DA wants LGUs to put up two emergency responder teams: one to prevent the entry of the disease and another one to contain the spread of the disease should one be reported.

There must be a clean team, one that would be in charge of keeping the disease off the towns, while another one looking into containing the disease, should one be noticed.

The clean team would be responsible in the information and education component of the program, spreading information as wide and as extensive as they can, to keep people informed and empower them to fight the spread of the disease.

On the other hand, in the report of a suspected case, the dirty team composed of the livestock medical professionals take over to implement containment protocols, he shared.

Although reportedly harmful to humans, ASF causing virus can survive in low temperatures and would be spread to human or other carriers which had the chance to touch contaminated meat.

In cases where ASF is reported, the protocol includes proper disposition of the meat or animals, the burning of garments worn by people in the infected area and the spraying of chemicals that can kill the virus, on trucks crossing though and from the affected areas. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)

DA RED DIPUTADO. Deputized to lead the government’s fight against the dreaded African Swine Fever which has the potential to wipe out local hog industry, Agriculture RED Diputado lays out the plan to set up emergency responders who would be mainly tasked to act on curtailing the spread of the virus and save Bohol’s multi billion hog industry. (rahchiu/PIA-7/Bohol)