Aris: pig depopulation
ASF hits Dauis puroks

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, April 26 (PIA)— Governor Erico Aristotle Aumentado declares Purok 5 of Mayacabac and Purok 2 of Mariveles all in Dauis as African Swine Fever (ASF) infected premises and orders mandatory depopulation of all pigs in the declared areas, whether these are confirmed with the viral disease or not.

The declaration however is local, and would not affect Bohol’s status as ASF-free yet, according to a statement of a Department of Agriculture official, as shared by the office of the Provincial Veterinarian here.

DA assistant secretary for Swine and Poultry Constante Palabrica Palabrica said mainland Bohol was in a “light green” zone, which means ASF was not detected and considered a moderate risk while Dauis is identified as a “red” or “infected” zone after swine specimen samples from its three barangays tested positive for ASF.

Dauis has already declared a state of calamity in response to the situation, to release critical resources in curbing the spread of the disease.

Through Executive Order No 15, series of 2024, the governor also declared the vicinity areas surrounding the pig farms and pig pens where the index cases of deaths and diseased pigs were traced, as ASF quarantine areas Level 1 and placed the entire town as ASF quarantine area level 2.

This as the Office of the Provincial Veterinarian (OPV) belatedly received reports of the swine deaths and diseases in the subject areas, April 17, around 4:00 PM. The swine deaths have allegedly occurred weeks back.

“Immediately that day, we went to the area and immediately conducted blood sample collection for confirmation by laboratory tests at the Regional Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (RADDL),” shared OPV supervising agriculturist Romulo Garcia, at the weekly Kapihan sa PIA.

The blood sample collection continued the following day, when Gov. Aumentado issued Executive Order No 13, prohibiting the transport of live pig, pork and pork products from Panglao island to mainland Bohol, and mobilized government resources to implement the ban.

Other than Mayacabac and Mariveles, the team also learned that similar pig deaths and diseases were noted in Barangay Biking and Catarman, where they also collected blood samples which they submitted for laboratory testing and had these tested.

The confirmatory reports arrived in Bohol on April 20, the RADDL showing that only the samples from Mayacabac and Mariveles were positive of the ASF.

Seeing the need to implement measures to contain the infection in the infected areas and control any potential outbreak, the governor mandated the establishment of infected zones, quarantine zones and surveillance areas, where necessary actions and regulations were to be set in place.

Based on the Department of Agriculture Memorandum Circular No. 10, series of 2019, Administrative Order No. 22 of 2020 and Provincial Ordinance No. 2022-011, the governor ordered the stamping out of pigs of all ages in the subject puroks and banned the introduction and entry of pigs in the area until three months of disinfection has been completed.

INFECTED AREAS

For the same ASF infected puroks, those pigfarms, pens and backyard raising areas where blood samples which produced positive ASF results were collected, these were cordoned off, for daily disinfection for three months and accessible only by authorized disinfecting personnel.

Households with pigs testing positive for the ASF are told to install food mats and observe proper disinfection and sanitation when leaving and entering their house, and all the remaining feeds and other possibly contaminated implements in the pig farm are to be burned or buried with the depopulated pigs.

According to Garcia, even the burial sites have to be disinfected, and the DA has lent Bohol a small disinfection truck for the purpose.

ASF QUARANTINE AREAS (LEVEL 1)

And while these puroks in Mayacabac and Mariveles are declared infected, the remaining puroks in the barangay are declared Quarantine Area Level 1.

Here, pigs tested and found to be positive of ASF would be depopulated while pigs that turn negative of the ASF virus, can be slaughtered within 7 days and can be consumed but only within the barangay.

For the next three months, entry or exit of pigs from here is banned, those piggeries or farms which yielded positive blood samples are cordoned off and disinfected in the next 30 days by authorized personnel.

Meanwhile, pig growers with ASF positive pigs, are mandated to install foot mats in their homes and need to observe proper disinfection and sanitation when leaving their homes, and any remaining feeds and other possibly contaminated implements are burned or buried.

ASF QUARANTINE AREA (LEVEL 2)

The governor also put a quarantine area level 2 in areas that comprise the entire Dauis town, where the conduct of information, education and communication is conducted in parallel with continuous surveillance and collection of blood samples for ASF testing.

Here, to prevent any more entry of the virus, there would be no movement of pigs of all ages in and out until after 30 days of the issuance of the order, unless a blood sample from within comes out positive.

SURVEILLANCE AREA

Detected in Dauis town in Panglao island, the ASF virus which is causing the deaths need to be contained to arrest any more potential outbreak, and for that, the governor, along with the Provincial ASF Task Force and in consultation with local officials decided to put up checkpoints to implement the provisions of Executive Order No. 13, issued April 18.

As early as Friday, April 17, police roadblocks were installed but the inspections would not start until Saturday.

Owing to the narrow roads and the volume of traffic leaving Panglao island to mainland Bohol, the roadblocks set up along the Dauis Mansasa causeway and the Dauis Tagbilaran Causeway in Poblacion Ubos, merited comments, most of them complaining about the inconvenience of checkpoints, long queues and running late on appointments.

Some social media comments talk of the effects of these checkpoints in tourism and question the wisdom of “what they believe as unproven” quarantine and biosecurity checkpoints, forgetting that the same measure was a success in 2023’s ASF outbreak in San Vicente Pilar.

Bohol Tourism Council chairman Atty Lucas Nunag, on these comments said ASF containment measures are not perfect but they serve the purpose of preventing the spread of the disease.

On the checkpoints and the clearance system, he said, “They are inconvenient but effective as a deterrent to the transport of pork and pork products.”

Beyond these, he said, “cordoning off of affected areas, culling of animals in such areas, education and awareness campaign are less publicized but are laudable efforts of our authorities to protect our hog industry which is a substantial contributor to our economy and has a widespread impact on our community.”

Meanwhile, over the issue on the traffic affecting tourism, travel agent Lourdes Sultan of Travel Village hinted time management.

“We just need to bite the bullet. For our tourist movement, we just have to adjust pick up time for those going to the airport or seaport,” said Lourdes Sultan of Travel Village.

This could well be an advice to one and all. (PIABohol)

OBJECT OF COMPLAINT. The effort to contain the ASF infection by making sure no live pig, pork or processed pork gets to mainland Bohol meets resistance by inconvenienced motorists here. The weight of the P6billion hog industry in Bohol however is a heavier responsibility than a few minutes of stall while waiting to be processed and cleared through. (PIABohol/RVO)