Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte said drastic measures like the culling of pigs will be enforced after the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Animal Industry have confirmed that the first eight blood samples taken from hogs in Barangay Bagong Silangan and Payatas in Quezon City were positive for African Swine Fever.
The Office of the Mayor said some 45 blood samples have been submitted to BAI but the results for the remaining have yet to be released.
To date, Belmonte said that at least 1,500 pigs are being monitored by the DA and the City Veterinary Department in the one-kilometer radius of Barangays Payatas and Silangan for possible ASF infection.
Agriculture Undersecretary Ariel Cayanan, BAI Director Ronnie Domingo, and ASF Crisis Management Team member Dr. Rieldrin Morales – representing DA Secretary William Dar – personally handed the official blood test results to Belmonte in a meeting Thursday.
With the ASF afflicting the two barangays, Belmonte met the hog raisers from Payatas yesterday to inform them of the necessity to immediately cull the ASF-infected hogs from the two areas.
Barangay Payatas chairman Manny Guarin, who also raises around 300 pigs, led the way in implementing the culling as part of the 1-7-10 protocol.
Belmonte said a P10-million budget for financial assistance will be allotted for ASF affected areas.
She asked all hog raisers from the affected barangays to surrender their pigs before the budget runs out and in order to prevent the spread of ASF to other areas. (Chito Chavez)