The Department of Agriculture (DA) has detected African Swine Fever (ASF) in Masbate, Bicol, a letter from the DA to Aroroy Mayor Arturo Virtucio showed.
A document from DA showed that organs and blood samples that were taken from hogs in Aroroy, Masbate have been tested positive for ASF, a fatal animal swine disease.
As of January 9, ASF has already spread to 12 regions and 38 provinces in the Philippines, affecting 447 municipalities and cities and as many as 2,311 barangays.
The deadly virus, which has been in the country since 2019, already resulted in the death and culling of 436,423 hogs.
The most affected island-region so far is Luzon, while the provinces with the most ASF outbreaks are Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Isabela, Pangasinan, Quezon, Davao Occidental, Camarines Sur, among others.
Despite this, DA Undersecretary for Operations Ariel Cayanan assured on Thursday that the country has enough pork supply in the provinces that can be brought to Metro Manila in order to bring down the prices of the commodity.