Davao City implements tight measures vs ASF

This came after a pig slaughtered at the Maa Slaughterhouse tested positive for ASF during a postmortem inspection on June 20.

Dr. Maria Corazon Sepulveda, the head of the city’s Veterinarian’s Office in an interview with the City Information Office (CIO) said that the ASF-positive slaughtered animal was immediately properly disposed of and it was initially cleared during the antemortem inspection as the virus is difficult to detect in live animals. 

However, she said the postmortem inspection showed that the hog traced back to Banga, South Cotabato which has yet to declare an outbreak was indeed infected with the virus.

City Veterinarian’s Office temporarily shut down the Maa Slaughterhouse from June 22 to June 26, for thorough disinfection following the confirmation. 

Meantime,  the Malagos Slaughterhouse is temporarily operating to cater to clients from Maa. Stockyards and slaughterhouses in the city were ordered to sanitize and disinfect their areas. 

“There is continuous cleaning and disinfection. Actually, we gave them disinfectant so they can clean their area. And then there’s continuous surveillance and monitoring po sa atin,” she said.

Sepulveda said their office is currently conducting daily antemortem and postmortem inspections of hogs and hog carcasses all over the city. 

Public Markets and stockyards are also under strict surveillance. The city’s slaughterhouses, cold storage and processing plants are closely monitored.

Stockyards in Bankerohan are currently closed and will be under tight monitoring after one stockyard specimen from the area tested positive for ASF. 

This prompted the office to cull all hogs in the establishment and to temporarily close all stockyards in the city, she added.

“We need to conduct continuous monitoring in public markets and stock yards although the stock yards in Bankerohan Public Market are currently empty because we had to shut them down,” Sepulveda further said.

Border inspection of hogs coming into the city is also tightened. 

Sepulveda said that farmers with commercial hogs coming from areas that have declared ASF outbreaks (red zones) and from areas that have not been flagged (green zones) must acquire an animal inspection certificate and an ASF-free certificate from the Veterinary Quarantine Services Department of the Department of Agriculture. However, non-commercial hogs or backyard hogs from outside of the city are not allowed entry. 

Sepulveda assured Davaoeños that the reported ASF infection at the Maa Slaughterhouse is an isolated case which was immediately addressed by the authorities.

Sepulveda assured that there is no ASF outbreak in the city right now.