Cotabato intensifies surveillance, monitoring against ASF

COTABATO Governor Emmylou “Lala” Taliño-Mendoza has ordered strict surveillance, monitoring and an information campaign to control the spread of African swine fever (ASF) in the province.

The Office of the Provincial Veterinarian (OPV) is set to conduct more random blood testing on hogs in different towns of the province in the next few days after two pigs from the village of Idaoman in President Roxas municipality tested positive on June 29.

Hog farmers in several towns in Cotabato, also known as North Cotabato, were first affected by ASF in 2020, which was contained that same year. A new outbreak was reported at the start of 2022.

The governor opened a veterinary quarantine center in 2022 to boost control measures against the hog disease. The facility along the main highway in Old Bulatukan, Makilala has disinfection equipment and foot baths. — Maya M. Padillo