February 11, 2009

The deaths of 240 pigs in three towns in North Cotabato province in Mindanao is suspected to be caused by hog cholera, agricultural officials said yesterday (February 10).

 

Chief provincial veterinarian Dr. Enrico P. Garzon has warned townsfolk to immediately bury affected hogs and avoid eating its meat as it may be hazardous to human health. Garzon said the hog cholera outbreak hit the towns of Alamada, Aleosan and Midsayap.

 

Dr. John B. Pascual, Department of Agriculture (DA) livestock division chief said they will still verify whether it was hog cholera that killed the hogs by testing its sample tissues. For the meantime, pig farms will be quarantined, he said.

 

Hog cholera or the classical swine fever is a highly contagious viral disease, which in acute form is characterized by high fever, severe depression and multiple superficial and internal haemorrhage that resulted in deaths 10 to 15 days from infection, a study showed.

 

North Cotabato Vice-Governor Emmanuel F. Pinol said the outbreak "was not alarming" despite hogs "dying in remote areas." He added that that hog cholera is "something that happens every now and then. [Hog cholera] can be easily controlled. Such disease is not in the level of FMD (foot-and-mouth disease) or Ebola [Reston]."

 

He however, expressed concerns of its impact to a scheduled programme launch to increase the income of backyard swine growers.

 

Mindanao has been certified FMD-free by the Office International des Epizooties (OIE) or World Organization for Animal Health.

 

The island has aborted its pilot pork shipment to Singapore in December due to the discovery of Ebola Reston in pig tissue samples from Luzon farms.

 

Pascual, also the Agriculture department's regional disease prevention task force chief, said the spread of hog cholera can be contained through vaccination of unaffected stocks in addition to quarantine methods.

 

He said cases of hog cholera have rarely been detected in Central Mindanao region in the last seven to 10 years.

 

Meanwhile, the DA revealed said the hog disease initially detected in Samar has spread to 18 towns and one city in Eastern Visayas region.

 

Hog deaths were reported in Babatngon, Tacloban City; Alangalang, Sta. Fe, Palo, Pastrana, Dagami, Burauen, Tabontabon, Lapaz, Mayorga and Abuyog in Leyte; Sogod in Southern Leyte; Catbalogan, Calbiga, Daram and Sta. Rita in Samar; and Lope de Vega in Northern Samar.

 

DA-Region 8 Executive Director Leo Caneda said observation will remain until such time that samples have been submitted for testing and examination.

 

The spread of the disease may have been caused by the unrestricted slaughtering of sick animals, he said in yesterday's meeting of the Regional Advisory Council and Animal Disease Control and Emergency.

 

The Bureau of Animal Industry is considering the outbreak of other hog diseases, such as cholera, aside from the reported salmonella infection in the region. The bureau has yet to release laboratory results from samples obtained by local government units.

The latest report showed that in Sta. Rita, actual hog deaths due to salmonella infection have reached 84, while 772 others are infected.

 

In Lope de Vega, 77 animals have died while 37 others were slaughtered in three villages. At least 137 swine were infected by disease, said Jose Luis Acompanado, chief of the Northern Samar provincial veterinary office.

 

Antonio Cinco, chief of the veterinary office in Catbalogan, Samar, said an unknown disease has killed 15 backyard-raised pigs in the capital town of Samar province. At least 23 infected animals were slaughtered by raisers.

 

Cinco said the spread of the disease was caused by overcrowding, stray pigs, slaughtering and improper disposal of carcasses.