Tacloban takes stringent measures vs ASF

More than 70 heads of swine were culled in 2020 and the raisers were indemnified with P5,000 in cash assistance per head from the Department of Agriculture and received 3 piglets and sacks of hog feed each.

TACLOBAN CITY — The City Veterinary Office here said it will implement stringent measures on the entry of hogs and pork products coming from Cebu province and other areas suspected of having an African swine fever outbreak.

Dr. Rogiel Mahait, focal person on ASF, said the CVO will require shippers and dealers all the necessary documents before live pigs and processed products can be brought in to the city.

Mahait admitted that the bulk of the city’s meat supply come from Cebu province and Mindanao. But, he said, no new case of ASF infection has been reported since 2020.

Apart from strict monitoring of pork and meat products entering the city, Mahait said city veterinarians are also conducting a random blood sampling in different barangays to ensure that none of the hogs are infected. The blood specimens are then sent to the Regional Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory for testing.

Mahait said traders who will transport hogs here have to present at the checkpoints a certificate of ASF-free status, farm registration, a veterinary health certificate, a livestock handler permit issued by the Department of Agriculture and a disinfection clearance.

They also need to present a certificate of vehicle registration from DA, a picture of the transport carrier, a master list of recipients within Tacloban City, and a registration of livestock and poultry transport carriers.

Those transporting meat and processed meat products must present a license to operate, certificate of product registration, certificate of meat inspection, certificate of registration/license of a transport carrier by National

Meat Inspection Service and Veterinary Quarantine Service, and a picture of the transport carrier before they are issued a certificate of acceptance.

Mahait credits the strict protocols on pork coming to the city for the early containment of ASF infection in 2020 where the viral infection was limited only in three barangays.

He said more than 70 heads of swine were culled in 2020 and the raisers were indemnified with P5,000 in cash assistance per head from the Department of Agriculture and received 3 piglets and sacks of hog feed each.

Earlier, the Bureau of Animal Industry in Cebu province reported ASF outbreak in Cebu City, Liloan, Tuburan, Sibonga and Bogo City.

Leyte province, including Tacloban City, has an average annual consumption of pork of 11.05 kilos per person.