The Philippine agriculture chief said Monday that an unspecified number of pigs has died or been culled in backyard farms in recent weeks and a crisis team has been established to try to contain the still-unidentified disease causing the swine deaths.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar said the Bureau of Animal Industry has been carrying out
laboratory tests on
blood samples of affected pigs and arranging similar tests in foreign labs to identify the
disease after an increase in pig deaths. Dar couldn't immediately say if the cause was the contagious African
swine fever that has led to the deaths and culling of millions of pigs in Asia.
"What we can say is that those suspected to have the disease are being culled, removed, buried and the place is disinfected," Dar told a news conference when asked to detail the scale of the swine deaths.
Dar refused to identify the affected area or province and disclose the number of pig deaths while containment efforts were underway. The results of the lab tests and other details would eventually be disclosed to the public, he said.
A recent increase in deaths of pigs raised by farmers in backyard farms and pens was reported to him on Friday, Dar said, adding that it prompted increased monitoring and stricter quarantine screening in airports and seaports nationwide.
"We assure the animal industry stakeholders and the public that we are on top of the situation and we are doing everything possible," he said.
Click here to see more...