Philippines intensifies control over African swine fever

Manila (VNA) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered all government offices to implement measures to stop the spread of African swine fever (ASF) in the country, his spokesman Salvador Panelo said on October 24.

Accordingly, these offices include executive departments, bureaus, agencies, government-owned and controlled corporations, government financial institutions and other instrumentalities of the government. Duterte has directed them to coordinate, as well as to adopt policies and introduce measures to manage, contain, and control ASF transmission.

Panelo said the President also asked the public to cooperate with government agencies in order to prevent the spread of ASF.

The order came as dozens of pigs in Philippines' top hog producing provinces like Bulacan, Rizal, Pampanga and Manila, are being infected with the virus.

Tens of thousands of pigs in the Philippines have so far been culled to prevent the virus from spreading, while processed pork products like hotdogs and cured pork have tested positive for ASF virus.

On September 9, the Philippine Department of Agriculture confirmed the first ASF outbreak in the country, which is the world's major pork consumer. A total of around 12.7 million of hogs have been raised here.

ASF is harmless to humans but highly contagious and fatal for pigs./.