By Mar T. Supnad
ASIDE from the highly-infectious coronavirus disease, Bataan also got hit by another virus strain – this time affecting the farm livestock.
But unlike the Department of Social Welfare and Development, which is required to undergo multiple layers of bureaucratic process before it could release aid, Bataan Provincial government was too quick to respond as Governor Abet S. Garcia immediately ordered the release of assistance to farmers who lost their livelihood in view of the African swine fever.
A day after the governor issued the directive, the Bataan Provincial Veterinary Office farmed out 50 breeding cows to affected farmers from the localities of Orani, Mariveles, Samal and Abucay.
The World Health Organization said that ASF is a severe viral disease affecting domestic and wild pigs. It is responsible for serious production and economic losses.
This transboundary animal disease (TAD) can be spread by live or dead pigs, domestic or wild, and pork products. Furthermore, transmission can also occur via contaminated feed and fomites (non-living objects) such as shoes, clothes, vehicles, knives, equipment etc., due to the high environmental resistance of ASF virus.
As of now, there is no approved vaccine against ASF (unlike classical swine fever (‘Hog Cholera’) which is caused by a different virus).
Historically, outbreaks have been reported in Africa and parts of Europe, South America, and the Caribbean. More recently (since 2007) the disease has been reported in multiple countries across Africa, Asia and Europe, in both domestic and wild pigs