CEBU CITY, Philippines—To contain the spread of the African Swine Flu (ASF), the Cebu Provincial Government has implemented stricter protocols in regulating the movement of live pigs and pork products here.
Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia issued two Executive Orders (EO) as precautionary measures against the deadly swine disease, including isolating Carcar City, where the first cases of ASF in Cebu were detected, from the rest of the province.
On Tuesday, March 7, 2023, Garcia signed EO No. 9-B that bans exporting meat and live hogs from Carcar City.
While pigs and pork products and byproducts from Carcar City are not allowed to be exported, the EO exempts those that have already been cooked and canned like chicharon, the city’s popular delicacy.
Other protocols found on the new EO included intensified surveillance and swine population monitoring in barangays, pig farms and stockyards in Carcar City, establishing veterinary checkpoints, and prohibition of swill feeding, and pig slaughter outside the slaughterhouse.
Garcia has also released EO No. 9-C, which prohibits swine farms not accredited under the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) from transporting pigs for a period of 30 days or until April 6.
“We will face (this challenge). But I promise you, we will prevail. The first order of the day is containment,” Garcia told reporters in a press conference.
The Provincial Veterinarian Office earlier confirmed that they had detected the African Swine Fever virus from samples of slaughtered pigs in Carcar City during a routine ASF surveillance last February.
/bmjo
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