TESTING FOR ASF. Palawan provincial veterinarians test pigs in Magsaysay and Cuyo towns on Sept. 18-19, 2023 for African swine fever infection following an outbreak in July. On Friday, (Oct. 6, 2023) the Provincial Veterinary Office (ProVet) announced that the province is again ASF-free. (Photo courtesy of Palawan ProVet)
PUERTO PRINCESA, Palawan – This province was once again declared an African swine fever- (ASF) free zone following a recent epidemic that broke out on an island barangay in Magsaysay town.
The Provincial Veterinary Office (ProVet) announced Friday that Palawan has been given a clean bill of health by the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) following the decisive action of line provincial government offices that led to the speedy containment and subsequent eradication of ASF in the affected village.
Dr. Darius Mangcucang, officer-in-charge of the ProVet, said the province is now classified as a "dark green zone" under the Department of Agriculture's (DA) national zoning prevention and control plan, indicating that no active ASF cases remain here.
“Dark green zone means that Palawan remains ASF-free. Although we had an incursion of ASF, we were able to contain it right away. The disease did not leave Barangay Cocoro. The virus did not even reach the other villages of Magsaysay town,” Mangcucang said in Filipino.
His explanation came after the BAI, on ProVet's request, certified the municipality of Magsaysay, along with the rest of the province, ASF-free because of the rapid and complete containment of the outbreak in Cocoro.
The ASF-free stamp allows piggeries here to resume the exportation of their products outside of the province, it added.
This was done after blood samples collected from pigs in the towns of Magsaysay and nearby Cuyo between Sept. 18 and 19 all tested negative for the disease.
Mangcucang said the tests confirmed that Palawan is once again ASF-free.
It can be recalled that in July, agriculture and veterinary authorities reported the unexplained deaths of domestic pigs in the vicinity of Cocoro, prompting the ProVet to launch an investigation aided by the BAI.
On Aug. 24, the BAI determined that ASF was the cause of the deaths of roughly 300 pigs that occurred in the village
Mangcucang said the virus may have come from Antique, where there is ASF.
He said after the ASF-free confirmation, all areas in Magsaysay and Cuyo towns, with the exception of Barangay Cocoro, are permitted to again transport swine outside of Palawan. (PNA)
