The Iloilo provincial government has banned the entry of hogs and pork products from Mindanao, where the new cases of African Swine Fever (ASF) were confirmed by the Department of Agriculture (DA) in the municipalities of Don Marcelino and Maita, Davao Occidental.

Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. issued Executive Order 027-A imposing the ban of pork from Mindanao.

Mindanao is an added area as the provincial government has earlier banned swine, pork, pork products coming from Luzon and from countries positive for ASF like Latvia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Luxembourg, Belgium, Bulgaria, Moldova, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, South Korea, and China.

Dr. Darel Tabuada, the supervising veterinarian of the Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO), in an interview Tuesday, said quarantine officials will be manning the province’s ports of entry against the banned products.

Based on monitoring, Tabuada said some 5,081 heads of pigs has entered the province through the Dumangas port from July to December last year.

The pigs came from the provinces of Bukidnon, Negros Occidental, and Cebu.

In the same period, some 6,290 kilograms of pork and pork products have entered the province through the Iloilo International Airport. The pork and pork products came from Davao, General Santos City, and Cagayan de Oro.

“We have quarantine inspectors that render 24/7 duty in our airport and seaports. They will check the pork and pork by-products that enter,” Tabuada said.

Citing the discussions among national government officials from the DA, Bureau of Quarantine, Food and Drug Administration, among others, Tabuada said that pork and pork by-products from affected areas will not anymore be issued with shipping permit at the point of origin.

“In Mindanao, for example, it (pork) will not anymore be issued with shipping permit for it not to be carried on ships,” he said.

The ban will continue to be in effect as long as the country is not free from the ASF.

The ASF is a highly contagious hemorrhagic disease affecting swine that is caused by a virus, which cannot be treated or prevented as there is no available vaccine yet. (PNA)