Ilocos Norte vet office urges residents to help maintain province’s ASF-free status

By Leilanie G. Adriano

Staff Reporter

 

LAOAG CITY—The Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) here is urging all concerned residents to watch for new pig arrivals in their respective barangays and report any unusual death of pigs, if any.

 

Dr. Loida Valenzuela, PVO provincial veterinarian, said African swine fever (ASF), the fatal viral animal disease affecting pigs of all ages continues to spread in various parts of the country, hence the need to stay vigilant.

 

Based on the Bureau of Animal Industry’s latest Zoning and Movement Plan against ASF, Ilocos Norte is “light green” which means the province belongs to the protected zone category.

 

In view of this, Dr. Valenzuela said the province’s quarantine checkpoints are strictly monitoring the entry of pigs and its byproducts from outside the province to ensure the province remains ASF-free.

 

“As you may have read, ASF outbreaks continue to affect other provinces. We already have cases in Camarines Sur, Kalinga and Benguet. Isabela has already nine towns affected and we don't know when will it happen in Ilocos Norte,” Dr. Valenzuela noted.

 

As a precautionary measure, the PVO has advised all mayors in the province to mobilize barangay officials to help in the monitoring of new pig arrival in their respective barangays and to report immediately any unusual mortalities of pigs in their respective areas.

 

“We also advise the public not to feed swill from carinderias, restaurants, hotels and resorts, and even table food scraps if pork is present. Plant source swill is okay as long as it is cooked for 30 minutes at 70 degrees Celsius,” she added.

 

The PVO has also recommended to punong barangays to issue certifications on pig/s going out of their barangay either for slaughter or grow-out that they know personally the owner and that their animal/s were raised in that barangay for traceback purposes in any.

 

Geotagging of farms for purposes of the one-kilometer radius is also encouraged among owners.

 

The PVO also urged Ilocos Norte residents to buy breeder pigs from the Bureau of Animal Industry–certified farms, feeding of plant-based swill, observing biosecurity, putting wheel foot disinfectant bath, and installing effective fly and rodent control system in hog farms. 

 

They are also conducting intensive implementation of quarantine guidelines, document compliance of shipments, surveillance sampling, and disease investigation to safeguard the province against the possible entry of infected swine products.

 

“Reporting of unusually high pig mortalities in your area will also help us in our anti-ASF measures,” Dr. Valenzuela noted.

 

The reoccurrence of ASF, a contagious hemorrhagic viral disease of domestic and wild pigs, has already spread on parts of mainland Luzon and Mindanao.

 

The provincial government has so far ordered a temporary restriction of shipments of swine and its products to Ilocos Norte from the following ASF-hit provinces: Rizal, Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Isabela, Benguet, Kalinga, Davao Occidental, Davao del Sur, South Cotabato, and Sulu.

 

Also included in the list of restricted areas are several towns in Aurora, Cavite, Quezon, Bataan, Pangasinan, and Metro Manila.

 

“We urge our hog raisers to stay vigilant. Let us maintain Ilocos Norte as ASF-free province,” Dr. Valenzuela stressed.

 

On October 14, 2019, Ilocos Norte Governor Matthew Joseph M. Manotoc signed Executive Order No. 30-19, which created the “Task Force ASF–Free Ilocos Norte”

 

The task force implements the protective and remedial measures against the adverse effects of the swine disease in the province. (With a report from Blessing Angel V. Agliam)