TACLOBAN CITY – The municipality of Carigara, Leyte has conducted swine culling after an African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreak was reported in the area.
The local government has confirmed ASF infestation in Barangat Parag-um based on the laboratory results taken from a swine that died in the area while four more hogs tested positive for the virus within the 500-meter radius.
Local authorities have immediately conducted depopulation affecting over 160 hogs within the area to prevent the disease from spreading and protect the town's hog industry.
Carigara is the ninth town in Leyte that has reported ASF cases. The others were La Paz, Javier, Dulag, Tanauan, Palo, Burauen, Pastrana, and MacArthur.
The Department of Agriculture Region 8 (Eastern Visayas) continues to remind hog owners to maintain the cleanliness of their pigpens and piggeries by constant disinfection, installing footbaths, using clean clothes, always wearing slippers or boots, and avoiding giving the animals food scraps and other waste materials since they are considered as the main reason why ASF has spread into other areas.
ASF is one of the most severe viral diseases in pigs. It is characterized by high fever, loss of appetite, hemorrhages in the skin and internal organs, and death within two to 10 days. It affects pigs of all ages but cannot infect humans.