‘Swine mortality contained, but still challenge’

By Dolly Yasa

BACOLOD City – Negros Occidental governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said swine mortality in the province due to various diseases “has somehow been contained but still poses a challenge.”

Lacson told reporters on Tuesday that “there are days that there no mortality and there are days may ara.”

He added that another barangay was hit by swine mortality, bringing the tally of affected barangays to 143 while the number of affected towns and cities affected remains at 17.

Pig deaths are at 9.79 percent of the total hog population in the province.

Lacson said the death rate must be higher before the province can declare a state of emergency.

“I’d like to think also because we followed the protocol somehow it is contained but it is still a challenge, it is not spreading as fast as we feared it will be. So we will try to keep areas considered clear, we will try to safeguard these places,” Lacson said.

He added that local government units that remain free from hog mortalities are trying to safeguard their areas.

The governor said he still will not encourage repopulation.

Total hog mortalities numbered 14,404, which is 9.79 percent of the province’s hog population, with losses pegged at P157,658,000 as of June 22, the Provincial Veterinary Office reported.

Local government units with ASF cases include the cities of Bacolod, Silay and Victorias, and the towns of Pulupandan and Hinigaran, in Negros Occidental.

Before the detection of ASF, Lacson said Negros Occidental sold 5,776 heads of pigs from June 1 to 16, of which 4,332 were shipped to Luzon and 1,454 to the Visayas areas.

“This why we have to be very careful in declaring that the whole province has been hit by swine diseases. If we have declared it already, what will happen to the 5,000 hogs being shipped out from Negros Occidental,” Lacson added.