By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The number of hog deaths in Negros Occidental is now at 5,252, the Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) said.

As of Tuesday, May 23, San Enrique town still topped the number of hog deaths at 1,936, followed by Valladolid town (936), Bago City (852), Pontevedra town (461), Pulupandan town (374), E.B. Magalona town (268), and La Carlota City (268), PVO officer-in-charge Dr. Placeda Lemana said.

Hog deaths were also reported in the towns of Binalbagan, Hinigaran, Manapla, and Murcia, and in the cities of Cadiz, Silay and Talisay.

Lemana said the damage to the province’s swine industry is now pegged at P63.5 million.

Around 406 raisers in the province’s 4th district have reported losses worth more than P22 million.

Among the causes of hog deaths in the province include hog cholera, pneumonia, heat stroke, and other swine diseases.

Meanwhile, regional executive director Jose Albert Barrogo of the Department of Agriculture in Western Visayas, said out of two batches of hog blood samples submitted by the provincial government, the first batch tested negative for African swine fever (ASF), but came out positive for hog cholera, based on the confirmatory report by the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI).

“When we talk about the cases as reported, this is the biggest issue now,” Barrogo said in an interview yesterday.

“For the second batch of samples from Bacolod City, we are still waiting for the official report from the BAI,” he said.

Earlier, Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson issued an executive order for all villages in the province to set up their respective border control points to control the movement of hogs.

The province also remains on heightened alert against ASF, after neighboring Negros Oriental reported the first ASF cases in Dauin town./DGB, WDJ