Pigs are hosed down inside a backyard hog raiser's pen. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File
MANILA — Pork supply will not be affected by the spread of African swine fever (ASF) in many barangays in Carcar City, Cebu province, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said.
DA Deputy Spokesperson Rex Estoperez said they do not expect the outbreak to have a huge impact on pork supply.
"For now wala pang sinasabi sa atin. [Ang] supply ng pork okay naman," Estoperez said.
"Right now, we are assuring the public, na kahit may ASF, may supply pa rin tayo ng pork na safe naman for our consumption," he added.
(For now, nothing is being said to us. The supply of pork is okay. Right now, we are assuring the public that even though there is ASF, we still have a supply of pork that is safe for our consumption.)
On Wednesday, the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) confirmed that 58 out of 149 samples taken from Carcar City tested positive for ASF.
The DA has instructed the Cebu government to implement strict measures to contain the cases of ASF.
"Strict instruction ni Usec. [Domingo] Panganiban, coordinate immediately with the local government units. Allegedly kasi, based sa report ng BAI, galing ito sa nearby province. Hindi maiiwasan 'yun kasi mahaba ang ating coastal areas," said Estoperez.
(Strict instruction by Usec. Panganiban, coordinate immediately with the local government units. Allegedly, based on the BAI report, it came from a nearby province. That is unavoidable because of our long coastal areas.)
Carcar City is famous for pork products such as lechon and chicharon. Cebu is also a major source of pork in the region.
This is said to be the first case of ASF in Cebu in many years, as the province has been implementing strict bans on the entry of pork products.
The DA said the ASF would trigger depopulation in affected farms and farm owners will be remunerated.
Cebu has implemented strict border controls on hogs and pork products coming from Carcar.
Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia earlier issued an order banning the entry of hogs and pork products coming from Negros.
The BAI encourages swine raisers to immediately report unusual hog sicknesses or death to further quell the spread of ASF.