Authorities are now scrambling to contain the spread of the deadly African swine fever (ASF) after Negros Oriental reported its first case in Dauin town’s Barangay Maayong Tubig over the weekend.

Provincial Board Member Woodrow Maquiling, chairman of the committee on agriculture, told the Philippine News Agency yesterday that culling of pigs within a radius of 500 meters from the ASF-affected area is ongoing.

At least 265 had been culled since Sunday, May 21, Maquiling said.

“Provincial Veterinary Office chief, Belinda Villahermosa said in a meeting this morning that around 265 pigs [have already been] culled since Sunday as national, regional and provincial officials from the Bureau of Animal Industry [BAI] are here to assist in containment measures,” he added.

Dauin Mayor Galicano Truita immediately issued an executive order on Saturday, May 20, to prevent the transmission of the ASF virus to other barangays following the laboratory results from the BAI-Central Office that showed blood samples collected from pigs in Maayong Tubig tested positive for ASF.

Executive Order No. 2023-19.1 calls for a temporary ban on the entry and exit of swine/pigs, including fresh and frozen products; the suspension of swine-related activities, such as slaughtering, in the municipality; and the immediate culling of the bovine animals in Barangay Maayong Tubig’s Puroks 1 and 2.

Authorities are still doing back-tracing to find out the source of the ASF virus, noting that a temporary ban on the entry and exit of live pigs, pork and by-products in Negros Oriental was in effect in previous months. (PNA)