Bureau of Animal Industry-Veterinary Quarantine Services regional veterinary quarantine officer, Dr. John Roel Hilario, recently held a press conference where he touted the information and education campaign by the Department of Agriculture-Region VI pertaining to African swine fever.
“We consider [the campaign] very important,” he explained. “We have disseminated about 4,000 flyers and have installed posters.”
The regional official also discussed implementation of the “BABES strategy,” which stands for “ban pork imports, avoid swill feeding, block entry, educate our people, and submit laboratory samples.”
“Consumers must be warned that although African swine fever does not infect people, buying pork [that has been] illegally slaughtered is against food safety and may expose them to bacterial pathogens that can infect humans,” Hilario explained.
Last month, improperly documented pork siomai that had entered Panay via Roxas City, Capiz and was confiscated from Iloilo Terminal Market tested negative for African swine fever with Iloilo City Veterinary Office head, Dr. Tomas Forteza, noting, four of the 11 packs had been sent to Manila for testing.
An earlier executive order by Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas barred the entry of all meat and pork products from areas affected by the virus./WDJ