According to Reildrin Morales, the director of National Meat Inspection (NMIS), The Philippines is experiencing its third wave of African swine fever outbreak with no cure in sight for the highly contagious swine disease. He added the best option was an “elevate response” to contain the infectious disease that had battered the meat industry since it was first identified in the Philippines in 2019.
On the other hand, there is a recent partnership between the Bureau of Animal Industry and The University of the Philippines Los Banos for a science-based protocol to prevent the spread of the deadly disease. The African swine fever infects pigs, warthogs, European wild boars and American wild pigs, with deaths occurring in two to 10 days, where it results a high case of mortality rate of 100 percent as per BAI.
In a January 9 conversation with Samuel Castro, the ASF focal person of the Department of Agriculture said the country had lost 30 percent of its control population, with bursts traced to 37 provinces. In addition, only a few areas in the Visayas, MIMAROPA and parts of Mindanao had remained disease-free although DA office in Eastern Visayas reported an outbreak in backyard farms in Abuyog, Leyte province last January 16.
Image Source: western producer, world grain
additional report: inquirer
