Pork meat has been one of the Filipinos most used ingredient in cooking. As the alarming spread of the African Swine Fever (ASF), the price of pork meat had skyrocketed since the end of 2019 until today.
Department of Agriculture Secretary William Dar assures that the country has enough supply of pork meat and other products. Despite the ASF had already spread in Davao.
Also, the Department of Health (DoH) with World Health Organization (WHO) assured the public that the African swine fever (ASF) does not pose a risk on human health and safe for consumption.
Based on the latest report, only 1.7% of the 12.7 million national swine population has been depopulated. “From the 216,000 depopulated swine, only about 13 percent is sick, but because of the 1-7-10 protocol, we have to depopulate every hog within the one-kilometer radius,” Dar said.
According to Secretary Dar, swill feeding is the primary cause of ASF outbreak. However, the origin is still being traced. Also other identified possible sources of ASF include food wastes from ports or smuggled pork products.
Secretary Dar urges everyone to work together in helping the local government to properly manage and control the problems.
“We will help in terms of making supply more available, by bringing the produce from the countryside to the metropolitan areas like Metro Manila, and lower the retail prices of food commodities,” Dar said.
Sources: The Philippine Star
Photo Sources: Panlasang Pinoy, Nusa Bali, Key facts about African swine fever (ASF) | Alltech
