Around 126 barangays in the Cordillera are now affected by the African swine fever since 2019, according to the Department of Agriculture-Cordillera.
As of April 1, DA-CAR reported that Abra recorded 18 barangays from nine towns and 22 barangays from five towns in Apayao have ASF cases.
Benguet has 24 affected barangays from six towns; Kalinga has 23 barangays from seven towns; Ifugao has 28 barangays from seven towns; and Mountain Province has 11 barangays from three towns.
But of late, DA-CAR Information Officer Aida Pagtan said there have been no recorded ASF cases since a case was recorded in Malibcong, Abra on March 5.
Early this year, there were other ASF cases recorded in Villaviciosa, Bucloc, and Tineg, also in Abra, totaling to seven cases for the province this year.
The town of Bokod, Benguet recorded three cases while Conner, Apayao had one ASF case, or total of 11 cases from January to March 2024.
From 2019 to 2024, the region has recorded the highest cases of ASF in 2021 with 191, followed by 2023 with 51; 2022 with 42; 2020 with 64; and 2019 with five cases.
DA-CAR has been implementing an information education campaign against ASF, distribution of disinfectants, surveillance and monitoring, meeting with barangay officials, quarantine of the affected barangays, close coordination with the local government units, and test and destroy.
She said the best defense against ASF, a swine virus which has a 100 percent mortality rate, is the strict implementation of biosecurity, conduct of proper cleaning and disinfection, and active surveillance against the disease.
From 2021 to 2023, the DA has given out a total of P74 million worth of assistance to the affected hog raisers in the region which include piglets, veterinary drugs and biologics, and ASF rapid test kits. – Ofelia C. Empian
