By MERLINDA A. PEDROSA

Bacolod City logged another positive case of African swine fever (ASF), the City Veterinary Office (CVO) confirmed yesterday.

CVO assistant head Dr. Janine Sarthou said the hog sample was collected on July 9 from the city’s slaughterhouse, and the test results were released on July 13.

Authorities are now determining the affected hog’s exact origin as a measure to contain ASF spread.

Bacolod had earlier recorded four positive ASF cases in Barangays Alijis and Taculing.

Sarthou noted that the CVO has been conducting random sampling of at least 20 live pigs in various barangays since June 30.

She clarified that there will be no culling of pigs within a 500-meter radius of the affected barangays.

Earlier, Bacolod issued guidelines for the prevention, control and containment of ASF in the city following the reported cases of the disease in several localities in Negros Occidental.

The executive order aims to protect hog raisers, vendors, consumers, food security, and the entire swine industry from the threat of ASF.

Sarthou said the CVO is intensifying its monitoring efforts and may carry out the culling of pigs suspected of being infected with the ASF virus.

She added that at least six hog samples are pending submission to the Department of Agriculture’s Regional Animal Diagnostic Laboratory in Iloilo City.

The samples were collected from backyard hog raisers in Barangays Bata, Alijis, Taculing, and Granada./MAP, WDJ