TACLOBAN CITY – As Ormoc City confirms its first African Swine Fever (ASF) cases, Mayor Gomez said that they will implement a two-week pork holiday to prevent the disease from spreading.
Mayor Gomez said a total of 136 swine from Brgy. Salvacion and another 145 from Brgy. Bantigue were culled from a 500-meter radius from "ground zero" or where the disease was first logged.
"We tried to control the entry of ASF in the city but it caught up in our brgys. and hit the backyard piggeries. The pork holiday is our way of controlling the spread of the infection in Ormoc," he said.
"It was recommended by our veterinarian to hold the slaughter of pigs for consumption.
We have been investigating and monitoring other brgys. and if we need to cull infected swine, then we must."
Three swine have reportedly died on June 30 in their slaughterhouse prior to slaughtering, which prompted the city veterinarian to conduct a rapid test, wherein two of them were reactive.
They also collected four samples that were sent to the Department of Agriculture for confirmatory testing.
This prompted the slaughterhouse to impose a lockdown and seize its operations for disinfection.
Mayor Gomez has also signed Executive Order (EO) No. 184 series of 2021, An Order Reconstituting the African Swine Fever Task Force (ASF-TF).
The task force is mandated to immediately implement policies and actions, and provide coordination among implementing local offices and national agencies to act on all matters relating to the ASF.