9 CamSur towns under watch vs ASF

DRIVE VS. ASF. As part of the preventive and control measure to stop the spread of African Swine Fever (ASF) in Camarines Sur, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) has placed villages in the nine towns, including Naga City, under tight watch against ASF. (PNA file photo)

LEGAZPI CITY --- As preventive and control measures to stop the spread of African Swine Fever (ASF) in Camarines Sur, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) has placed villages in the nine towns, including Naga City, under tight surveillance against the ASF.

In an interview on Saturday, Feb. 29, Emily Bordado, Department of Agriculture (DA) Bicol spokesperson, said those on the ASF watch list, which included over 50 villages in the towns of Calabanga, Magarao, Canaman, Libmanan, and Naga City, have been under the 7-kilometer surveillance zones.

Surveillance zones, she said, are areas where live pigs would undergo laboratory tests and once tested positive for ASF would be culled.

While 48 villages covering the towns of Camaligan, Gainza, Pili, and Minalabac included in the 10-kilometer Control Zone, live pigs in these areas could be sold and transported provided these animals have the required health and shipment permits issued by an authorized veterinary officer.

Bordado said various checkpoints in Camarines Sur as of Friday have confiscated 16.9 metric tons of meat and meat products from ASF-hit areas.

So far 1,362 pigs in six barangays of Bombon and two barangays of Calabanga were culled as of Friday.