THE DEPARTMENT of Agriculture (DA) XI said Davao City remained in the yellow zone, also known as a surveillance zone, for the African Swine Fever (ASF).
During the Agribiz forum on Sept. 3, Dr. Armie Capuyan, DA XI Disease Monitoring and Surveillance regional head, said they continuously remind farmers in the city to be alert against the disease.
“Davao City is in the yellow zone but it doesn’t mean na we’ll lower our guards down. Just like other regions, we sometimes have unreported or late reports from ASF. We always remind our farmers in the region to always be on guard against the disease,” Capuyan said.
Capuyan however noted that areas in Davao Occidental, particularly in Malita and Sta. Maria’s, three backyard farms were affected by ASF.
“Our backyard farms do not have proper biosecurity measures which resulted in being infected with the disease. That’s also why we continue to advocate to our farmers both to the backyard and commercial farms to strengthen their biosecurity measures to prevent such disease,” she said.
Backyard farming, as defined by the Philippine Statistics Authority, refers to “a farm or household whether farming or non-farming operated by a farmer or household that raises poultry and swine as livestock.”
Capuyan stressed that LGUs have been strengthening checkpoints not just in backyards, but as well as in slaughterhouses and meat markets, to ensure that what the public consumes is still wholesome, and no animals are infected with such a disease.
“As part of the Disease and Prevention Control Program, the local government units and DA XI had already conducted disease control measures in those areas, disease surveillance monitoring in municipalities and agricultural offices, and gave support among our LGUs to properly implement these measures,” she added.
She added that they are still waiting for the approved guidelines for vaccination from the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI).
According to the BAI’s validated report, as of August 21, 2024, a total of 15 regions all over the Philippines have an active case in ASF, with 312 areas in Luzon upgraded from Red to Pink zone, 98 areas in Visayas, and 47 areas in Mindanao. Among the top five provinces with the most number of active cases were North Cotabato (87), Occidental Mindoro (69), Batangas (66), Quezon (47), and Sultan Kudarat (27).
File Photo: Bing Gonzales
