African swine fever deaths rise to 70,000; over 40,000 pigs at risk

More than 40,000 hogs in the Philippines are now at risk of contracting the deadly swine disease African swine fever (ASF) while the virus has already resulted in the death and culling of about 70,000 pigs in more areas in Luzon.

This developed as the ASF, a fatal animal disease among hogs, already crept into the third district of the country’s capital, Manila, and continues to kill more hogs in Bulacan and Pampanga.

In a notification to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the country’s Chief Veterinary Officer and Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) Director Ronnie Domingo said that 40,480 pigs in the Philippines are now susceptible to contract the deadly swine disease amid the rising ASF outbreaks across Luzon.

The report also revealed that backyard farms in Malabon and Caloocan were also recently hit by the virus.

Industry sources confirmed this, noting that ASF struck these areas two weeks ago.

ASF Crisis Management Team Head Rieldrin Morales said ASF was first detected in Rizal Province in August and had since then spread to Cavite, Quezon City, Pangasinan, Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, and Antipolo.

Of these areas, Bulacan and Pampanga were the hardest hit, recording more than 20,000 hog deaths each.

The country’s latest report to OIE showed that the virus has been spreading fast in these two provinces, with more than 500 new ASF cases detected amid reports that some backyard hog raisers in Caloocan began dumping their dead hogs in Bulacan.

In total, there are now 555 actual ASF cases in the Philippines, pushing the total number of ASF outbreaks to 24.

BAI told the OIE that the source of these outbreaks has remained “unknown or inconclusive,” but it also suspects that the cause of the spread are “illegal movement of animals, swill feeding, and fomites (humans, vehicles, feed, etc.).”

ASF can’t infect humans and is not considered a food safety risk, but it can be spread indirectly through people’s clothing, footwear, vehicles, farm equipment, and livestock feed.

Morales said the local hog industry, valued at P260 billion as of last year, is losing about P900 million per month because of ASF.

So far, measures applied by the Philippine government to control the spread of the virus include movement control inside the country; surveillance outside containment and/or protection zone; surveillance within containment and/or protection zone; screening; quarantine; official destruction of animal products; official disposal of carcasses, by-products and waste; stamping out; zoning; disinfection; ante and post-mortem inspections; and prohibiting vaccination.

Measures to be applied would be intensifying traceability, OIE was told.

It was reported earlier that while the Philippine government has long established that the illegal transportation of live pigs and pork products from areas struck by ASF is one of the reasons why it’s so hard to keep the deadly hog disease from reaching more backyard farms in Luzon, no one involved in such illicit trade has been penalized yet.

Morales said since ASF was first detected in Rizal province in August, the government has yet to penalize anyone for illegally transporting hogs and processed pork products from areas hit by the virus.

Even those who smuggled pork products from ASF-hit countries like China have remained off the hook, he added.

The problem, he said, is that the ASF Crisis Management Team, led by the Department of Agriculture (DA), couldn’t necessarily go after the smugglers and illegal meat traders with a lawsuit.

He said the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) deals with finished and processed products, while it’s the Bureau of Customs (BOC) that handles smuggled products.

As for the illegal trade of raw meat, it’s the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) that could charge involved individuals and groups.

Though nobody has been charged yet, Dar noted that it is a crime to sell, trade, and slaughter sick or dead pigs for meat or for the processed pork products.

Violators, he said, face imprisonment from six to 12 years and a fine of 1100,000 to 11 million.