CEBU CITY – Backyard hog farmers in Cebu province have been advised to observe biosecurity measures in their farms to prevent the spread of diseases affecting pigs amid the recent African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreak in Luzon.
Dr. Zeam Voltaire Amper, regional livestock coordinator of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in Central Visayas, said proper hygiene and sanitation in hog farms would prevent diseases from affecting the livestock industry. “We really advise that even backyard farmers should also implement bio-security measures like changing of clothes, washing the hands, disinfection” to prevent the virus from spreading, Amper said.
Amper said the best disease prevention method that farmers can do in order to protect their farms from being harmed by viruses affecting animals is the practice of biosecurity, even in the backyards. “Based on study, the virus stays for months or thousands of days when frozen. It’s very difficult to eradicate the disease if it is already in the environs,” he said.
Dr. Mary Rose Vincoy, provincial veterinarian, said Cebuanos’ high level of awareness about ASF has helped much in their information dissemination efforts, following the order of Governor Gwendolyn Garcia to ban the entry into the province of live pigs, pork and pork products from Luzon.
She said that even small carenderia owners submitted inventory of pork and pork products in their stock as the task force was only concerned about pork meat and pork products stocked by restaurants and canned and processed pork products displayed in groceries.
She said that members of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Cebu also actively participated in a recent meeting called by Garcia to disseminate policies imposing a total ban on pork and pork products from Luzon due to reported ASF cases in Rizal and Bulacan, and Quezon City.
Vincoy said the provincial task force formed to prevent the ASF from affecting the P10-billion hog industry in Cebu is in constant coordination with the DA in laying down advisories affecting the hog industry here. (John Rey Saavedra)
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