August 22, 2007

Philippine government tries to prevent spread of swine diseases

The Philippine government through the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI)Tuesday sent a team to the central Luzon province of Nueva Ecija to help prevent the spread of swine diseases, reported local television network GMA News.

The BAI will assist local veterinarians in vaccinating backyard-raised swine after laboratory tests confirmed 6,000 hogs from 19 pig farms in the province were infected with swine diseases such as hog cholera, swine influenza and Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS). PRRS is the latest plague that attacks the respiratory tract of piglets which makes reproduction difficult.

Hog raisers said 10 municipalities in the province, which is a major supplier of pork products to Metro Manila, have already been affected by the diseases.

Some 507 pigs have already died but officials said there is no cause for alarm since the number of fatalities account for less than 1 percent of the total hog population in the province.

None of the three swine diseases could be contracted by humans but people have been warned against eating meat from infected animals, as antibiotics used to cure them could be harmful to human beings, said officials.