LAOAG CITY, Ilocos Norte, (PIA) -- The city government of Laoag through its veterinary office is strengthening their efforts to monitor its hog industry to keep it free from African-Swine Fever (ASF) as more hog raisers are starting to operate again.

According to City Veterinarian, Dr. Samantha Licudine, their office is monitoring and continuously inspecting hog-raisers in the city to ensure they are practicing proper biosecurity measures for safety and cleanliness.

To be one-step ahead of ASF infection, Licudine encouraged hog-raisers to strictly monitor their pigs for any symptoms of ASF, clean and disinfect facilities regularly, avoid soil feeding, and give them proper vitamins.

ASF can manifest through the following common symptoms: high fever; weakness and difficulty standing; vomiting; diarrhea; red or blue blotches on the skin particularly around ears and snout; and coughing or labored breathing

Pigs found to be infected with ASF are immediately culled to prevent further spread of the virus.  

“All hog raisers whose stock were culled already got paid and our livelihood assistance is still ongoing,” Licudine added.

As of posting time, the City Veterinary Office is conducting a survey to determine the number of active hog raisers in the city after a number of them stopped due to ASF.

Currently the city is under the “Yellow Zone” or a Surveillance Zone.

Yellow Zone includes provinces that are high-risk areas because of the dense population of swine, and volume of trade of pigs, pork, and pork products.

Last year, the city government distributed 90 sentinel pigs and sacks of feeds to 30 livestock raisers as part of the repopulation efforts of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

“For our farmers, remember our biosecurity reminders to take care and protect their own livelihood, don’t do soil feeding, and some basic reminders like change clothes and shower before they go to their pig facilities,” she added. (JCR/MJTAB/EJFG, PIA Ilocos Norte)