DA to place livestock checkpoints to prevent ASF spread

The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Saturday said it will be setting up several livestock checkpoints across Luzon following the rapid spread of African Swine Fever (ASF) in Batangas.

In a news release, the DA said putting up checkpoints is a temporary measure while the government awaits the arrival of ASF vaccines, a process that could take a few weeks.

“We have the funds to procure the vaccines and the emergency funds to indemnify hog raisers adversely affected by the resurgence of the ASF virus,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said noting that vaccine procurement is essential for controlling the outbreak but acknowledged the delay in securing them.

DA Assistant Secretary for Swine and Poultry Constante Palabrica, for his part, said that the additional border controls are designed to halt the movement of diseased hogs, which have been a significant factor in the rapid spread of ASF in Batangas.

“We have set up additional livestock quarantines and will keep it there at least until December 31,” said Palabrica.

“Policemen along with Bureau of Animal Industry and other DA personnel will man the checkpoints,” added the DA official.

Palabrica, a veterinary medicine expert, also said that the border controls will help prevent the transport of other diseased animals, including birds.

Twenty out of 26 barangays have been affected by the African Swine Fever (ASF) in Lobo, Batangas, which led to the declaration of state of calamity in the town for the local government to tap its calamity fund as the threat of ASF has already resulted in P103 million worth of damages.

Palabrica said the DA has identified central burial sites for hogs infected with ASF or those that have died from the virus.

This measure, the DA official said, is part of the broader effort to control and eventually eradicate the virus, which has severely impacted the hog industry since it was first reported in 2019.

The ASF outbreak has had a devastating effect on the national hog population, which dropped from 12.7 million in 2019 to an estimated 9.9 million by the end of 2023.

According to Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) monitoring, ASF has spread across all 17 regions of the Philippines and affected 74 provinces.

As of August 8, 64 municipalities in 22 provinces have reported active ASF cases.

Meanwhile, according to Bernadette Reyes' Saturday 24 Oras Weekend report, 251 barangays across the country had active ASF cases, compared to the just 150 last July.

However, the Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) said a hike in pork prices was unlikely until the end of the year as the farmgate price in Batangas had even dropped to between P170 and P180. It remained at  P190 to P195 in other provinces.

"For this year, wala  tayong nakikitang problem. Kung matamaan yung inahin, mamumroblema tayo  by next year. Pero so far, wala pa naman tayo nakikitang problema up to  December," said SINAG Chairman Rosendo So.

(For this year, we don't see any problems. If the sow gets ills, we will have problems by next year. But so far, we haven't seen any problems up to  December.) — VAL, GMA Integrated News