HEAL ▶▶▶TH
ASF hits farms hard in the Philippines
The sea has not been able to stop the march of African Swine Fever in Asia. In September 2019 the virus was also confirmed in the Philippines. What happened on the islands exactly and what are some of the longer- term perspectives?
T
Metric tonnes 9,946 – 42,190
42,191 – 83,050
83,051 – 126,610 126,611 – 188,450 188,541 – 447,520
IV V MIMAROPA VIII VI BY DR STEVEN MCORIST, SCOLEXIA AGRIBUSINESS CONSULTING
he total pig population of the Philippines is around 13 million head, including a 1.75 million sow popu- lation. Around 40% of this total current population consists of smaller groups of pigs held in numerous
backyard farms. Figure 1 - Distribution of pig production across the Philippines.
Approximately 40% of the total pig inventory is concentrated in three regions: Central Luzon, northern Mindanao and west- ern Visayas, which account for 17%, 13%, and 10% of the total inventory, respectively. Most of the commercial pig farms are located in these three areas, see Figure 1. However, the backyard population is spread more thinly across the Philippines, e.g. central Visayas and the Bicol re- gions both have 10% of the backyard population. Many of the backyard farms across the Philippines purchase weaner age pigs between 5 to 10 kg bodyweight and fatten them pri- or to sale at 30 kg (‘lechon’ markets) or at 90 kg (pork mar- kets). Pigs are housed in simple backyard structures and fed a range of waste food or by-products, often with some com- mercial feed added. Most pigs for sale are aggregated by local dealers and taken to local slaughterhouses or lechon processing facilities. On larger backyard farms, a number of sows may also be housed and used in breeding programmes and piglet production.
I CAR II
Central Luzon - regions III and IV
III
Western Visaya - regions VI and VII
Northern Mindanao - region X
VII Caraga IX ARMM XII X XI Source: PSA 12
Emergence of the Philippines ASF cases In early September 2019, three backyard farms in Rizal prov- ince, just north of Manila in central Luzon reported high mor- tality losses. One of the affected farmers transported some diseased pigs to the neighbouring Bulacan province. On Sep- tember 9, confirmation of the diagnosis of African Swine Fever (ASF) led to restrictions on pig movements across central Lu- zon, in the affected provinces of Rizal, Bulacan and Pampanga. The latest reports show the spread of ASF zones north to Nueva Ecija and Pangasinan provinces, as well as to Cavite, south of Manila. The original cause of the primary Rizal out- break was suggested to be the feeding of contaminated waste food by-products from Manila sources to backyard pigs. Because the Philippines are an island nation, this source must have arisen from contaminated imported pork. This confirms the very high danger of imported pork products from positive ASF countries coming into other nations. On September 13 and September 18, further backyard farms in other provinces – towards the metropolitan area of Manila – Quezon City and Antipolo were confirmed to be positive for ASF. Samples were taken from two separate backyard farms in Quezon City province by Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) personnel. Testing at the Veterinary Laboratory Division of the BAI indicated that both farms were positive with eight of
▶PIG PROGRESS | Volume 35, No. 9, 2019
PHOTO: DR STEVEN MCORIST
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