DA chief: Humans can be carriers of swine fever

MANILA, Philippines — While African swine fever (ASF) cannot be transferred to people, Agriculture Secretary William Dar emphasized that humans can be carriers of the virus, which can lead to its further spread in the country.

“The spread of that will really be a big issue that we are monitoring. We wouldn’t want it to spread,” Dar said in a television interview this week with One News.

“Once you are in contact with this then you go to a hog raisers area, the pathogen is transferred immediately,” he added.

ASF is a highly contagious hemorrhagic disease of pigs, warthogs, European wild boar and American wild pigs. Mortality rates are high as 100 percent.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque dispelled fears, saying that ASF has no effect on people’s health but he encouraged the public to cook the meat well.

“As long as pork is bought from reliable sources and it is cooked thoroughly, pork is safe to eat,” Duque said.

On Monday, the Department of Agriculture (DA) verified that the recent deaths of hogs in Rizal and Bulacan were caused by the ASF virus, as confirmed by laboratory results from the United Kingdom.

Dar said 14 out of 20 blood samples sent to the OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health) reference laboratory in England were positive for ASF.

Dar said these were results only of the Polymerase Chain Reaction test. He emphasized they have yet to receive results of the viral isolation test that will reveal the severity of the ASF strain.

When asked how the virus could have been carried to farms, the DA suggests it may have been through food scraps from hotels and restaurants, or by pork products brought home by overseas Filipino workers.

Dar said there are people who collect wastes from hotels and restaurants at dumpsites, and sell what is called “swill feeds” to backyard hog raisers.

The agriculture chief emphasized the need for DA’s crisis management team to work with hog raisers to be able to avoid the spread of ASF virus, after receiving the incident report on the death of hogs in Rizal in August.

Dar earlier urged hog raisers to enhance biosecurity measures, promptly report any unusual animal mortality in their respective farms, and avoid swill feeding.

Dar earlier said a total of 7,416 pigs have been depopulated in the affected areas of San Jose, Macabud, San Isidro, San Rafael, Mascap all in Rodriguez, Rizal; Cupang in Antipolo; and Guiguinto in Bulacan.

Dar said the DA is verifying reports of possible ASF cases in other areas, but declined to identify these areas.

Meanwhile, Pangasinan Gov. Amado Espino III issued yesterday executive order No.0092-2019, calling for the “total prohibition on the entry of all swine/pigs into the province of Pangasinan until such a time a declaration is made by the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) of the assurance of the safety in the swine industry.”

The order also said that provincial veterinarian quarantine officers are “hereby deputized to cause the installation of quarantine checkpoints in the possible entry points of swine shippers from all regions, such as the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway and other strategic roadlines.”

Espino also directed all local chief executives to strengthen biosafety, hygiene and sanitation standards in slaughterhouses/abattoirs and public markets in their areas of jurisdiction.

The DA has also issued three administrative orders to address the issue, such as guidelines in securing certificate of farm disease-free status in disease outbreak areas, which enable owners to get needed certification from the BAI declaring that their farms are disease-free.

Administrative orders on the revised guidelines on the local movement of swine, pork, pork products and pork byproducts outside of disease outbreak areas, as well as veterinary quarantine movement protocol during animal disease outbreaks or emergencies, were also issued.

“Rest assured that the DA is on top of the situation. We are prepared to respond to all scenarios. We assure the public there is enough supply of pork in the market,” the DA said in a statement.

Dar said a national task force for swine disease, to be headed by the DA, will also be created in a bid to quarantine the disease.

Already, the DA in Northern Mindanao (DA-10) said yesterday that a multi-agency task force is now prepared to deal with the infectious disease that could affect thousands of pigs in the region.

Juliet Araos, chief of DA-10’s regulatory division, said the Regulatory Law Enforcement Council (RLEC) has been put in place even before Dar’s announcement.

The RLEC is composed of DA and its concerned units such as the BAI, health department, Philippine National Police, local government units and other government agencies.

Araos said the quarantine personnel are now monitoring the movement of imported meats in seaports and airports.

During a recent forum on ASF held here, Jake Sepe, a quarantine officer, said Bukidnon as the breeding for local livestock, must be protected from the virus.

Roads going to Bukidnon have at least two quarantine stations with footbath and tire dip facilities in place for passengers and vehicles. “We can still control it (from spreading) by compartmentalizing so that the ASF would not spread from island to island,” Sepe said.

Sen. Imee Marcos urged the Philippine Port Authority and Bureau of Customs to intensify the monitoring of the port of entry in the country to prevent any passage of smuggled meat products positive with ASF.

At the same time, Marcos also alerted the DA and the Department of Trade and Industry to ensure a steady supply of meat products and steady prices in the market.

The P260-billion swine industry provides and sustains the livelihood of millions of Filipino families, as roughly two-thirds – or 65 percent – of the industry is contributed by small backyard raisers. – With Cesar Ramirez, Gerry Lee Gorit, Cecille Suerte Felipe