Kidapawan officials on alert vs ASF

KIDAPAWAN CITY – Veterinary officials here have started taking steps to prevent the entry of the dreaded swine with suspected African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV).

Dr. Eugene Gornez, Kidapawan City veterinarian, said there were cases of sudden death of swine reaching his office but they have yet to determine if it was due to ASFV.

Gornez directed Barangay Animal Health Workers to check on all hogs in the villages for symptoms of the ASF virus.

“We have not found one as of today,” Gornez told reporters here over the weekend.

He told swine owners and hog raisers to immediately alert his office should they find symptoms of the disease like fever, weakness, lack of diet, reddish skin, and diarrhea, among others.

ASFV is a large, doublestranded DNA virus in the Asfarviridae family. The virus causes a hemorrhagic fever with high mortality rates in domestic hogs, some isolates can cause the death of animals as quickly as a week after infection.