Governor Joseph C. Cua and members of the Provincial African Swine Fever (ASF) Task Force met last Monday, Jan. 13, 2025, in an effort to find sustainable solutions to control the spread of the viral disease in the province of Catanduanes.
The consultative meeting was called by the chief executive after receiving a report from the Provincial Veterinary Office that confirmed ASF cases in the municipalities of San Andres, Bato, Baras and Virac based on results of tests conducted by the Department of Agriculture’s Regional Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (RADDL) and released only last Jan. 9.
“There is uncontrolled spread of ASF virus all over the island because there are cases that are not reported to authorities concerned and most swine are being slaughtered clandestinely without passing inspection,” Gov. Cua informed the task force members.
Before the results came out, Provincial Veterinarian Dr. Jane C. Rubio reported to the governor that it received a verbal report of the recurrence of viral swine disease in Virac, San Andres and Bato as early as Dec. 26, 2024.
In coordination with the municipal agriculture offices of the three towns, the PVO conducted disease investigation and surveillance, collecting a total of nine blood samples from four suspected sick hogs in Cabcab, San Andres, three in Cabugao, Bato, and one each in Marinawa and Cavinitan, all in Virac.
The next day, Dec. 27, during examination at the PVO using the DVRF-Rapid Test Kit, all the samples tested positive for the viral disease.
As the rapid test is not confirmatory, the same samples have to be sent to the RADDL in Pili, Camarines Sur for testing using the Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) machine.
However, it was only on Jan. 7, 2025 that the samples were brought to the DA laboratory.
In her report to Gov. Cua, Dr. Rubio blamed the cause of the ASF recurrence on the practice of swill (food waste materials) feeding by hog farmers as the virus can survive for months in pork, pork products and by-products.
Farmers do not implement good biosecurity measures in farms, the veterinarian stated, despite its being the first line of defense against the entry of any form of disease into the farm.
Among such measures are the provision of handwashing facilities and foot dips, limiting access to essential personnel and preventing the entry of contaminated feed and vehicles.
She likewise identified the “back door” or illegal shipment of pigs, pork and pork by-products as another factor, along with the non-reporting or late reporting of infection cases.
“Early detection and reporting of disease is the key to preventing its uncontrolled spread,” the veterinarian stressed.
The report identified strategies to control and eradicate the disease: strict control over the movement of pigs, pork products and other potentially contaminated items to minimize the spread of infection; tracing and surveillance to determine the source of infection; destruction and proper disposal of pigs; decontamination to remove infection; strict implementation of biosecurity measures; and the ruling out of other swine diseases with similar symptoms.
Dr. Rubio recommended to the task force the activation of municipal and barangay ASF task forces to implement the ASF Prevention and Control Program in their respective towns and villages.
The municipal mayor should ask the DA regional director for approval of the conduct of depopulation of hogs within a 500-meter radius from the infected site or ground zero as well as the provision of indemnification funds, she added.
After depopulation, a thorough cleaning and disinfection of all pigpens within the same area should be done for 30 days to kill the virus, to be followed by a 20-day rest or down time.
Only after lab results test negative for environmental testing will sentinel pigs be placed for 45 days at the farm or pigpen, with blood collection to be done on the 40th day and subjected to RT-PCR test.
It may be recalled that last Jan. 1, the Tribune published a report stating that a random blood collection undertaken on feverish pigs in the capital town of Virac yielded negative results for the presence of the dreaded ASF virus.
An official from the Municipal Agriculture denied unconfirmed reports of the alleged resurgence of ASF in Catanduanes and attributed the feverish condition of some local hogs to swine influenza, caused by the abrupt change in the weather conditions.
Swine influenza in pigs causes fever, lethargy, discharge from the nose or eyes, sneezing, coughing, difficulty breathing, eye redness or inflammation, and decreased appetite, with the infection causing miscarriage in some cases.
Common in pig populations around the world, swine flu mortality is usually low at around 1 to 4 percent but it can cause weight loss and poor growth.
In Bato alone, there are reports that more than 50 heads have succumbed to swine flu in the past weeks prior to the confirmation of the ASF spread.
The last time that a locally bred animal tested positive for ASF was in June 2024: a two-month-old piglet bought in Caramoran and brought to Pandan.