Another local government unit (LGU) in the 6th District of Negros Occidental reported the death of sick pigs on Tuesday, June 6.
Kabankalan City reported 146 pig deaths and the dead in Ilog rose to 101 on Tuesday, the Provincial Veterinary Office reported.
Losses in Ilog were at P1,172,700 and in Kabankalan – P1,633,450, the PVO added. No African Swine Fever (ASF) cases have been confirmed in the two areas of the 6th District yet.
Affected hog raisers in Ilog are 39 and in Kabankalan City – 32.
Biosecurity measures are being strengthened in the 6th District to prevent the spread of pig diseases.
The Kabankalan African Swine Fever (ASF) Task Force in coordination with the Disposal and Decontamination Team of the provincial government’s Incident Command Team has prepared a mass burial site for the dead pigs at Sitio Cabangahan, Brgy. Hilamonan, Kabankalan, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said.
Other LGUs are also preparing mass graves, he added.
The pig deaths in 16 LGUs in Negros Occidental were 10,729 or 9.49 percent of the province’s hog population on Tuesday, the PV O report said.
Affected hog raisers hit 2,031 and losses were at P122,116,350, the PVO added.
Rodante Perez, Ilog Municipal Agriculturist, said the pig deaths that are only in Barangay Calubang occurred starting June 1.
The checkpoints against the entry of pork from the area where pigs have become ill and died are now being conducted per barangay in Ilog, he said.
They have submitted pig blood samples for confirmatory tests at the Bureau of Animal Industry in Metro Manila to determine the cause of the pig deaths in Ilog, he added.
The Ilog local government is likely to give assistance to the affected hog raisers, Perez said.
Perez said they are using a backhoe for a mass grave for dead pigs in Ilog.*