GenSan forms task force vs. ASF

GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- The city government has created a task force to spearhead efforts to prevent the entry of the dreaded African Swine Fever (ASF) here, an official said Thursday.

Dr. Antonio Ephrem Marin, head of the City Veterinary Office, said the move aims to protect the city’s hog industry from the possible spread of the ASF, which has been confirmed to have caused the recent deaths of pigs in swine farms in Rizal province.

Marin said they are currently coordinating with various agencies and local hog growers for the rollout of strategic measures keep the city safe from the disease.

He said City Mayor Ronnel Rivera, who ordered the creation of the task force, directed their office to coordinate these efforts with the neighboring localities.

These include the implementation of intensified border control measures and monitoring of meat shipments entering the city airport and the Makar port, he said.

“We have established quarantine checkpoints in critical areas along routes going to the city from South Cotabato and the Davao area,” he said in a radio interview.

Marin said they will not allow live animals and meat products to enter the city without proper veterinary certificate, meat inspection certificate, and transport permit.

He said suspicious products will be subjected to quarantine and possible confiscation in coordination with the Bureau of Animal Industry-Veterinary Quarantine Service (VQS).

The city government and VQS-Region 12 (Soccsksargen) are currently jointly monitoring meat shipments entering the city, he said.

Last week, VQS personnel destroyed at least 261 kilos of imported meat products that were seized at the city airport.

Marin said they are not taking any chances with the disease as it could wipe out the city’s hog stocks if an outbreak occurs.

“It’s a big threat to both our backyard and commercial hog growers so we really have to be careful with this,” he said.

The official urged backyard raisers to refrain from feeding food scraps to their hogs as it could trigger ASF infection.

He said swill feeding, the traditional name for the feeding of food scraps to pigs, has been among the major sources of diseases in backyard hog farms.

Based on their monitoring, he said some backyard farmers have been buying food scraps from local establishments like restaurants and hotels.

Marin warned that these could contain imported processed foods that carry the highly contagious hog disease. (PNA)