(PRE-EMPTIVE MOVE. Gov. Dennis “Delta” Pineda meets Monday at the Capitol with Mayors Jun Punzalan (San Simon), Jun Tetangco (Apalit), Rene Maglanque (Candaba), and Bon Alejandrino (Arayat) and representatives of the Department of Agriculture and the Provincial Agriculture Office on the necessity to set preventive measures in the wake of the reported mysterious death of pigs in areas outside Pampanga. Photo by Bong Lacson)
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO– Amid news of pigs mysteriously dropping dead in some parts of the country, the Department of Agriculture (DA) assured consumers yesterday that they could eat their pork and feel safe.
Agriculture spokesperson Noel Reyes has issued a statement saying that the fatal pig ailment is not contagious to humans, although his agency has declined to identify the disease-culprit.
He said, however, that the disease was not the African Swine Fever which recently prompted the government to ban imports of pork and pork products from affected countries, including China.
“Pork being sold in our markets are safe and there is no need to worry about contamination because this will not happen,” Reyes said.
He said that the government is in control of the movement of pigs in affected areas amid what he termed as the “1-7- 10” protocol in areas where pig deaths have been reported.
“Under this protocol, we have quarantine checkpoints and pigs in affected areas are killed and buried within one-kilometer radius from ground zero,” he explained.
He said “inspections and monitoring are also done within seven kilometers radius from affected sites.”
The DA has so far not only refused to identify what ailment has been causing the deaths of pigs, but also refused to give information on the affected areas and the number of pigs which have died.
Samples from dead pigs were brought to a European laboratory for scrutiny. Findings of these laboratories are expected in two weeks, the DA said.
The price of pork, however, has dropped since news of the fatal disease spread.
