City remains ASF-free, city vet says

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

Amid confirmation of sick live hogs and dead hogs being thrown into one of the city’s river tributaries, the Iloilo City Veterinarian’s Office (ICVO) on Monday said they have yet to receive the results of confirmatory tests for African Swine Fever (ASF).

Veterinarian Suzette Leal of the ICVO told the media that they are still waiting for the results of the sampling from the Department of Agriculture (DA)-Region 6.

So far, Zone 1 in Jaro district Barangay Tacas has been cordoned off to prevent all live hogs and pork and pork products from coming in and out of the area.

“We will not allow the entry [of live hogs into Tacas], because some [backyard raisers] may want to recoup losses. The remaining there have not been reported to be sick,” Leal said in a recorded interview.

Three pigs in the barangay were reported to have died from sickness in the last week, with up to 33 piglets having died naturally after the mothers expired right after giving birth.

Leal said that the many hog deaths in the barangay were only due to the mothers’ deaths, based on reports from barangay officials.

“One of the mothers gave birth to 19 piglets after Tropical Storm Paeng. She then felt sick after that, and the other one also felt sick after giving birth to 14 piglets. That’s why there were many deaths. The mothers died and the piglets had nowhere to feed on,” she stated.

These were the only hog deaths recorded so far.

“After the reports in Tacas, there have been no reports of other sick hogs. Cops and barangay officials have been manning the checkpoints,” she said.

The ICVO recently investigated reports of pig carcasses thrown into the Dungon Creek at Brgy. Calubihan, Jaro.

But she said they cannot determine if the sacks found by barangay officials on the creek’s banks contained dead pigs due to their stench, so the carcass was just buried even prior to the veterinary office’s investigation.

“There were bamboos that fell into the creek due to [Paeng], so trash spilled over, and some sacks also fell into [the creek]. We couldn’t know where it came from, because there were no raisers in the area,” she stated.

She said barangay officials have been alerted to possible ASF cases in the city through their Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Councils via virtual meetings.

As of November 14, Iloilo City remains ASF-free, but the ICVO is being vigilant, given that neighboring towns of Alimodian, Leganes, Oton, Santa Barbara, and San Miguel, have all logged confirmed cases.

There are no commercial hog farms in the city, only backyard raisers.