DA says African swine fever in CAR contained

The transmission of African swine fever (ASF) in the Cordillera has been contained, the Department of Agriculture announced.
DA-Cordillera Executive Director Cameron Odsey said the agency is currently repopulating and is on guard to prevent the occurrence of another infection.
The DA has recorded 22,197 swine mortalities for 2020, 4,923 of which were due to culling to prevent the spread of the virus.
Kalinga was the most affected with 13,339 swine mortalities.
For 2021, mortalities have significantly gone down to 2,163, of which 1,132 are due to culling.
There are no reported cases in Kalinga so far this year.
The ASF virus has affected 1,682 hog raisers in the Cordillera last year who were indemnified by the government with DA allotting funds for repopulation.
This year, 505 hog raisers from the five provinces in the region are affected.
Odsey said hog raisers are continuously reminded to observe biosecurity measures to ensure that pigs remain ASF-free.
Coordination has also been done with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to ensure there would be no hunting of wild pigs, Odsey added.
It was earlier reported that some wild pigs in Abra got infected of the ASF where the DA theorized that the pigs got infected after feeding on leftover human food.
The DA allotted P40.3 million for the swine repopulation project. The repopulation fund is composed of the P15M livestock banner program, the P8M Special Area for Agricultural Development project, P15.6M from the regular funds or quick response funds, and P2M from the calamity funds. – Rimaliza A. Opiña