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Chick-News.com Poultry Industry News, Comments and more by Simon M. Shane

Philippines prematurely Claims Control of African Swine Fever

08/24/2021

The Ministry of Agriculture of the Philippines claims that cases of African swine fever (ASF) are declining. The Ministry predicts a meat surplus in 2023 based on suppression of African swine fever and a $586 million program to increase the number of hogs produced.

 

ProMED reports that since the first case in July 2019 the disease has been diagnosed on the Islands of Mindanao, Leyte, Luzon and Samar. Through July 2012 ASF has occurred in 12 regions, 50 provinces, 541 cities and 2,836 villages. Over 500,000 hogs have been depleted in an attempt to control the disease.

 

It is difficult to see how authorities in the Philippines can claim to have to suppressed ASF within a short period in an industry comprising small independent farms with defective biosecurity and widespread trading in live hogs. Control in China has been variable with successive reoccurrence of outbreaks in various regions. The disease has not been eradicated from Poland, the Russian Federation, Baltic nations and in eastern European countries formerly allied with the Soviet Union. Nations with predominately small-scale production will only control African swine fever following the advent of a safe and effective vaccine combined with structural and operational biosecurity attained with integration.

 

It would appear that the statement by the Ministry of Agriculture is premature and is probably intended for domestic consumption in advance of a national election. Declining incidence rates reported for a contagious disease may be less a function of control than negligence in detection, and reporting in addition to bias in  compilation of official data.


 
Copyright © 2024 Simon M. Shane