By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga
The recent hog deaths in Negros Occidental’s Cadiz City and Manapla town were caused by heat stroke, and not by African swine fever (ASF), a local hog raisers group said.
Albert Javier, vice president of the Hog Raisers Association of Negros Occidental (HRANO), in a radio interview yesterday on XFM 96.7 Bacolod, said the Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) went to get hog blood samples in Cadiz and Manapla where several hogs reportedly died.
Javier said the laboratory results showed that the hogs died due to heat stroke.
Others were noted to have hog cholera.
He added that the remaining thousands of hogs in the province’s second district are well.
Authorities in the cities of Cadiz and Sagay are strictly guarding their respective ports to prevent the entry of pork products from Panay Island and Cebu province.
Negrense hog raisers are also cautious of ASF, since they are currently supplying pork in Metro Manila after neighboring Cebu province extended its imposed pork ban for another 15 days, or until April 20.
An ASF outbreak in one spot could seriously affect neighboring areas.
During Holy Week, the PVO’s anti-ASF task force blocked the entry of around P1.3 million worth of pork and pork byproducts at Bacolod City’s BREDCO Port.
These were either confiscated or returned to their place of origin as they lacked appropriate shipping documents.
PVO head Dr. Placeda Lemana said they have intercepted a total of 9.52 kilos of pork, and 37,680 processed pork items worth P1.2 million.
In one case, the PVO confiscated a whole lechon (roasted pig) from the neighboring Panay Island which recorded cases of ASF.
Meanwhile, the confiscated 178.5 kilograms of pork worth P100,000 were destroyed through burning.
Negros Occidental, which remains ASF-free, has an ongoing entry ban on pork products from areas affected by the hog illness.
Earlier, Lemana advised raisers to take precautionary measures to protect their livestock against excess heat this summer.
Lemana said poultry owners make sure that the hog pens are well-ventilated, and to give them adequate drinking water and vitamin supplements to prevent heat-related illnesses./DGB, WDJ