The serious viral disease African Swine Fever was confirmed as the cause of death of pigs in two provinces, the Department of Agriculture announced yesterday.
Despite this, the DA assured the public that pork is still safe for human consumption.
Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said that 14 of the 20 blood samples of dead pigs from some backyard farms in Rizal and Bulacan were tested positive with ASF virus based on the laboratory tests conducted in the United Kingdom.
“Out of the 20 blood samples, 14 are positive with African Swine Fever,” Dar said, adding, “we continue to monitor, even beyond the 10-kilometer radius. So far, so good. No incidents.”
Despite the confirmed ASF case, the first outbreak of the disease detected in the Philippines, Dar assured that pork was safe to eat as long as the hogs passed through the proper process of slaughtering and preparation approved by the National Meat Inspection Service.
The Agriculture chief also added that Rizal and Bulacan were now considered “cleared” of the disease following the culling of 7,416 pigs last month that were within the one-kilometer radius of the affected areas.
“The public should not fear eating pork,” Dar said, which was also echoed by Health Secretary Franciso T. Duque.
To prove that pork and processed pork meat were safe to humans, Dar, Duque, other Agriculture and Heath officials, as well as hog stakeholders and members of the private sector partook yesterday of different pork dishes in a boodle fight at the DA headquarters in Quezon City.
Duque explained that local meat does not impose a threat to human health, reiterating that as long as meat was prepared and cooked properly, it was safe for human consumption.
Last August, an unusual number of pig deaths in backyard farms in unidentified areas in Rizal and Bulacan sparked speculations that the animals have been afflicted with ASF, a highly contagious and disease for pigs for which there is no cure and no vaccine.
Dar maintained that importation of pork and pork-based products from more than a dozen countries, including Vietnam, Laos, Hong Kong, and China, is banned in the Philippines.
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said that the confirmed ASF outbreak in the country was “a concern” that could affect the rate of increase in consumer prices.
“It’s a concern,” Dominguez said when asked if the government’s economic team is looking at ASF as a possible risk to inflation which was already down to 1.7 percent last month.
But President Duterte’s chief economic manager said “there are substitutes to pork such as poultry, beef, and fish.” (Chino Leyco)
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