July 31, 2007

 

Philippines' Ilocos Sur province on-guard against hog cholera

 

 

The province of Ilocos sur --adjacent to hog cholera-stricken areas of Pampanga and Bulacan -- is stepping up its guard against the possible entry of the disease in their vicinity.

 

Ilocos Sur governor DV Savellano has ordered 24-hour quarantine checkpoints to protect the local livestock from hog cholera which is likely to transfer as affected provinces are said to continue shipping pork to nearby areas, including Ilocos Sur. 

 

Savellano said the quarantine will be manned by the provincial government, provincial veterinary office, the municipality of Tagudin, local policemen, Ilocos Sur Polytechnic State College (ISPSC), members of the Community and Involvement Service (CIS) and officials and tanod of Barangay Bio, Tagudin town.

 

It was learned that some hog dealers from the provinces of Bulacan, Pampangga, Tarlac and Pangasinan were delivering swine in Ilocos Sur to supply the meat vendors in the province.

 

The governor also planned to put up quarantines in the next few days at the boundaries of Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur in Sinait town; and of Abra province and Ilocos Sur in Narvacan town.

 

Meanwhile, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap ordered the strict monitoring by the Regional Field Units (RFUs) to all hog farms nationwide.

 

Yap also ordered the immediate disposal of all affected animals to prevent the spread swine disease situation in Bulacan. This will be done through the disposal of lethargic animals, carcasses and beddings by burying or burning, administering of vaccines to apparently healthy pigs and thoroughly clean and disinfect all affected areas.

 

The secretary also prohibited the transport of breeder hogs and those set to be slaughtered must be covered by appropriate authority or shipping permits, all of which will have to be cleared in veterinary quarantine checkpoints.

 

The outbreak of the hog cholera disease was discovered after 700 kilograms of "double dead" pork found in Pasay City were meat of slaughtered hogs infected with hog cholera from Sta. Maria, Bulacan.

 

Out of the country's one-million pig stock, about 4,000 heads were reportedly affected with hog cholera virus in the provinces of Bulacan and Pampanga with 2,000 hogs each were confirmed affected.

 

Veterinarians from Bulacan have pointed adverse weather conditions and failure of pig raisers to vaccinate their animals for the spread of the hogs' ailments, which caused for the animals to become more vulnerable to illnesses.