• THERESA MAE DULMAN
The City Veterinary Office (CVO) confirmed July 1 that four cases of African swine fever (ASF) have been recorded in Bacolod City.
City veterinarian, Dr. Maria Agueda Dela Torre, said the pigs that tested positive came from Bangga Riles in Barangay Alijis and Purok 5 in Barangay Taculing.
Dela Torre said the samples were taken from live pigs that were grouped with the hogs that recently died in the two barangays.
She added that the tests were conducted by the Department of Agriculture-Regional Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (RADDL) in Iloilo.
“We will put up border controls so that those (pigs) that are already inside will just stay inside, and those outside can no longer enter our area,” she stressed.
Mayor Greg Gasataya already directed the establishment of strict quarantine checkpoints at strategic entry and exit points in Bacolod, per Executive Order 046-2026 that took effect June 29.
He said July 1 that the city has identified external suppliers from non-infected areas to maintain a steady meat supply in local markets while protecting uninfected domestic pigs.
Dela Torre said that strict documentation is required at slaughterhouses and city borders, and livestock or meat products lacking the necessary permits will be denied entry.
The CVO, meanwhile, will follow the national standard of 500-meter-radius to monitor the affected areas and subject the swine population to quarantine.
Livestock owners are advised to maintain regular disinfection, isolate pigs from other animals, and to immediately report any change in the health condition of hogs to authorities.
The city will also conduct educational campaigns in barangays with hog populations, surveillance testing, and random testing at the slaughterhouse.
The CVO likewise plans to cross-check the first 10 local results with the RADDL to verify accuracy, and if the results align, the city will transition to localized testing to accelerate the monitoring process, expected at two to three hours.
Assistant city vet, Dr. Marie Janine Sarthou, said that testing done at RADDL in Iloilo has a turnaround time of two to three days.
City Health Office Environment Sanitation Division head, Dr. Grace Tan, on the other hand, said that ASF cannot be transmitted to humans but they can be carriers and can transmit the contagion to hogs.
Bacolod has around 430 backyard hog raisers, with total population of over 5,000 heads, Maricar Quiro of the City Agriculture Office, said. | TMD
