Philippines: African swine fever (ASF) outbreak in Oriental Mindoro province prompts 'state of calamity'
Philippines: African swine fever (ASF) outbreak in Oriental Mindoro province prompts 'state of calamity'
The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) (provincial legislature) of the Oriental province, south of Manila, placed two towns in this province under state of calamity following confirmation of an African swine fever (ASF) outbreak.
According to a post on the SP Facebook page:
𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐨𝐱𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐎𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐨, a𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐅𝐥𝐮 (𝐀𝐒𝐅), 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐲.
The 11th Provincial Council, under the leadership of Vice Governor Ejay Falcon, approved the inclusion of the town of Roxas and Mansalay in the State of the Calamity as per the request of Governor Bonz Dolor after it was reported that there was a confirmed case of African Swine Flu.
Being subjected to a state of calamity by such towns is to control and prevent its spread. Encouraging our citizens to follow the guidelines released by the Provincial Government regarding the control of ASF. We are expecting your cooperation. Thank you very much.
Three ASF cases were confirmed in the villages of Bagumbayan and Dangay in Roxas and from hog mortalities in Mansalay.
Governor Humerlito Dolor said he also signed Executive Order 66 banning pork or pork products from leaving the two towns to prevent the spread of ASF to other parts of the province.
Subscribe to Outbreak News TV on YouTube
“For the past years, Oriental Mindoro was able to prevent the entry of ASF. Stringent border control, rigorous surveillance of suspected cases, and wide-spread information dissemination regarding the virus kept ASF out of the Province since 2019,” Dolor said.
According to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), African swine fever (ASF) is a highly contagious viral disease of domestic and wild pigs, whose mortality rate can reach 100%.
It is not a danger to human health, but it has devastating effects on pig populations and the farming economy.
The virus is highly resistant in the environment, meaning that it can survive on clothes, boots, wheels, and other materials. It can also survive in various pork products, such as ham, sausages or bacon. Therefore, human behavior can play an important role in spreading this pig disease across borders if adequate measures are not taken.
In August 2018, the virus leapt to China (People’s Rep. of), which represented the first occurrence of ASF in Asia. Since then, the disease continued to spread in the Region, affecting 16 countries as of 2021.
Since its first appearance in the province of Rizal, the Philippines in July 2019, ASF has swiftly propagated across the country, causing extensive outbreaks in all 17 administrative regions.