- CHERYL G. CRUZ
Bago City in Negros Occidental remains free of the dreaded African swine fever, Mayor Nicholas Yulo said June 5.
Despite this, Yulo said the city government will treat the reported hog deaths in Bago as ASF, and warned the public against the dumping of carcasses into rivers.
Water is the fastest medium to spread diseases, and anybody caught throwing contaminated pigs into rivers will be dealt with accordingly, the mayor said.
The Office for Veterinary Services of Bago also recently warned residents on the penalties of slaughtering pigs and selling pork products without undergoing appropriate inspection, as per Republic Act No. 9296, or the law strengthening the meat inspection system in the country, and other related measures.
Yulo, meanwhile, said they’re still receiving reports of swine mortalities due to cholera and other diseases, and will decide on the assistance that will be given to affected backyard hog raisers, and whether there is need to declare an epidemic in Bago.
He said that under the guidelines of the Office of Civil Defense, swine mortalities should represent 30 percent of the total hog population, before an epidemic, or state of calamity, could be declared.
Yulo said the hog deaths logged was five percent of about 22,000 backyard pigs in Bago, adding the city government has not received any mortality report from commercial raisers./CGC
