Why the DA is not yet revealing vital info on swine deaths

The Department of Agriculture has refrained from giving out information such as the exact location of hog farms and the “suspected disease” as part of biosecurity measures and to prevent the disease from spreading beyond the quarantine zones.

All the public at large know so far is that three barangays in Rodriguez, Rizal have been declared as quarantine zones after some 100 hogs died in the area, the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office said on Tuesday.

The public also know that blood samples have been sent to an international disease control agency in Europe for testing and to identify the exact “suspected disease”—whether it is the dreaded African swine fever or a host of other “major economic diseases.”

Here are the reasons why as briefly explained by DA spokesperson Noel Reyes to GMA News Online on Thursday.

The Agriculture department will not disclose the sites under quarantine to discourage people from flocking the sites and to avoid further spreading the disease.

“We also don’t mention the ‘ground zero’ sites, para hindi sila puntahan ng mga usisero, including journos, as they will serve as disease-carriers,” Reyes said.

The DA through its attached agency, the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), is conducting joint monitoring activities with the Philippine National Police and Local Government Units in managing, containing and controlling the spread of infected pork and pork products, particularly from the Rizal area.

Under Security Protocol 1710, the BAI has set up quarantine checkpoints in areas within a 1-kiliometer radius of infected farms—monitoring the movement of live pigs, pork and pork products.

To contain the “disease” from spreading, Reyes said the DA strongly requires veterinary health certificate, shipping permit, and meat inspection certificate for the trade and movement of live animals.

While the department has not mentioned the dreaded African Swine Fever, Taiwan has placed the Philippines on the list of areas with high risk of ASF. Starting Monday, August 19, Filipinos traveling to Taiwan underwent stringent inspections at the airport and other ports of entry.

As far as the DA is concerned, the presence of ASF is not yet confirmed. It has sent blood samples to Europe to be tested for animal diseases and is expecting the results in two weeks at the earliest.

“Pending receipt of confirmatory tests from Europe, DA Secretary William Dar refrains from naming the disease. He is a scientist after all,” Reyes said. “Sorry, we will name the lab as part of our succeeding bulletin.”

The department is encouraging the public to contact government veterinary offices and report unusual mortalities of pigs in their respective areas. —VDS, GMA News