CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Pampanga’s provincial veterinary office (PVET) reported yesterday that a disease which started to affect and even killed pigs in this province has apparently “crossed boundaries” despite quarantine measures and has reached neighboring Bulacan province.
The office of Gov. Eddie Panlilio cited PVET as saying that the porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) which was first reported in San Simon town in the first week of May not only affected 11 towns in Pampanga but has even reached Hagonoy in Bulacan.
Exact figures on deaths of pigs caused by PRRS was not immediately available, but PVET said that in Minalin town alone, 52 deaths were reported just recently.
“PRRS is a disease that hits all types of herd, including high indoor and outdoor stocks, regardless of size. The affected pigs manifest diarrhea, inappetence and vomiting,” PVET officer Michael Castro said.
PVET reported new cases of PRRS in Sta. Ana, Apalit, Minalin, Sto. Tomas, Sta. Rita and Sasmuan towns, bringing to 11 the total number of affected towns in this province.
It said that 20 pig raisers reported their animals infected in seven barangays in Minalin, while in Sto. Tomas, nine sows were reported to have contracted the ailment, with two eventually dying.
“Livestock technicians from Sta. Ana, Apalit, and Sta. Rita have confirmed PRRS cases and we are expecting details anytime. In Sasmuan town, two barangays have already been affected,” Castro reported to Panlilio.
The PVET report said a total of 10,500 doses of PRRS vaccines have already arrived from the Bureau of Animal Industry, even as 9,000 doses have already been distributed to the affected areas.
Castro assured consumers that pork being sold in local markets are safe to eat amid continuing and massive “treatment of animals and disinfection of affected areas to prevent further proliferation of the disease”.
“We have given out forms to municipal agriculturists to help them assess regularly the PRRS situation in their areas,” he said.
Castro said that “pork and all other kinds of meat being sold in our markets are safe since all our slaughterhouses are inspected regularly with the help of the National Meat Inspection Service.”
Strict quarantine was initially imposed in backyard piggeries in San Simon and parts of Mexico town where the first cases of PRRS were reported in Pampanga last month.
Records show that in the United States, PRRS is estimated to cost the US hog industry $600 million in losses yearly.
The office of Gov. Eddie Panlilio cited PVET as saying that the porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) which was first reported in San Simon town in the first week of May not only affected 11 towns in Pampanga but has even reached Hagonoy in Bulacan.
Exact figures on deaths of pigs caused by PRRS was not immediately available, but PVET said that in Minalin town alone, 52 deaths were reported just recently.
“PRRS is a disease that hits all types of herd, including high indoor and outdoor stocks, regardless of size. The affected pigs manifest diarrhea, inappetence and vomiting,” PVET officer Michael Castro said.
PVET reported new cases of PRRS in Sta. Ana, Apalit, Minalin, Sto. Tomas, Sta. Rita and Sasmuan towns, bringing to 11 the total number of affected towns in this province.
It said that 20 pig raisers reported their animals infected in seven barangays in Minalin, while in Sto. Tomas, nine sows were reported to have contracted the ailment, with two eventually dying.
“Livestock technicians from Sta. Ana, Apalit, and Sta. Rita have confirmed PRRS cases and we are expecting details anytime. In Sasmuan town, two barangays have already been affected,” Castro reported to Panlilio.
The PVET report said a total of 10,500 doses of PRRS vaccines have already arrived from the Bureau of Animal Industry, even as 9,000 doses have already been distributed to the affected areas.
Castro assured consumers that pork being sold in local markets are safe to eat amid continuing and massive “treatment of animals and disinfection of affected areas to prevent further proliferation of the disease”.
“We have given out forms to municipal agriculturists to help them assess regularly the PRRS situation in their areas,” he said.
Castro said that “pork and all other kinds of meat being sold in our markets are safe since all our slaughterhouses are inspected regularly with the help of the National Meat Inspection Service.”
Strict quarantine was initially imposed in backyard piggeries in San Simon and parts of Mexico town where the first cases of PRRS were reported in Pampanga last month.
Records show that in the United States, PRRS is estimated to cost the US hog industry $600 million in losses yearly.
