By MERLINDA A. PEDROSA

Bacolod City logged four positive cases of African swine fever (ASF), City Veterinary Office (CVO) head Dr. Maria Agueda dela Torre confirmed yesterday.

The hog samples were collected on Monday, June 29, from backyard hog raisers in Barangays Alijis and Taculing.

Dela Torre said the samples, taken from live pigs, were sent to the Department of Agriculture’s Regional Animal Diagnostic Laboratory in Iloilo City.

The results later confirmed that they were positive for ASF.

Dela Torre said they will cordon off portions of the affected villages today.

Surveillance testing will be conducted in various barangays to determine the possible spread of the disease.

She noted that the CVO will immediately depopulate symptomatic pigs while awaiting the decision of hog raisers regarding their asymptomatic pigs.

There will be no culling of pigs within a 500-meter radius in the affected barangays.

Earlier, Mayor Greg Gasataya established guidelines for the prevention, control and containment of ASF in the city following the reported cases of the hog disease in several localities in Negros Occidental.

“There is a need to strengthen the city’s preparedness and response measures through enhanced biosecurity, disease surveillance, movement control, and coordinated enforcement to prevent the entry and spread of ASF,” Gasataya said in Executive Order (EO) No. 46, issued on Monday.

The EO aims to protect hog raisers, vendors, consumers, food security, and the entire swine industry from ASF.

He said the task force ASF has intensified its monitoring efforts and the possible culling of pigs suspected of being infected with the ASF virus./MAP, WDJ