BUENAVISTA: Border checkpoints in Antique effectively curbed the further spread of African swine fever (ASF) in the province.
Antique does not have a record of the animal disease spreading to adjacent towns of Hamtic, San Jose de Buenavista, Sibalom, and Belison, all in the southern part of the province.
The last confirmed case in Antique was in Belison in November last year.
Dr. Marco Rafael Ardamil, chief of the Antique Provincial Veterinarian Office (PVO) Public Health Division, said Tuesday their checkpoints in Hamtic and Anini-y in the south and Pandan and Libertad in the north side continue.
ASF-free municipalities also established intertown checkpoints.
Antique Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) Extension and Regulatory Division Chief Luela Furio said in an interview Tuesday that their checkpoints confiscated about PHP350,000 worth of pork and pork by-products transported to Antique from July to December 2023.
‘There were tourists from Capiz and Aklan who brought pork supposedly for their consump
tion only, but these had to be confiscated at the border checkpoint because of the ASF in these provinces,’ she said.
Meanwhile, Ardamil said the local government unit (LGU) of San Jose de Buenavista will submit its ASF incident report and list of identified farms for sentinelling to the regional office of the Department of Agriculture in Western Visayas anytime this week.
Sentinelling is a process where a piglet is placed under observation in a pig farm to determine if there is still the presence of the ASF virus.
If the piglet did not manifest symptoms during the observation period, the farm is safe, and the farmer can start with the repopulation.
The town recorded its last case of confirmed ASF on Oct 26, 2023.
The four municipalities recorded 8,481 swine deaths due to ASF, equivalent to PHP63.89 million in losses.
Source: Philippines News Agency