Philippine Hog News:

[mikey]

, February 24, 2009Print This Page
Hog Farmers Say Pork Safe for Human Consumption
PHILIPPINES - Amid the scare triggered by the Ebola Reston virus (ERV) in pigs, a group of hog farmers in the country today assured the public that locally-produced pork and pork products are safe for human consumption – except those that are coming from a hog farm in Pandi town in Bulacan province.



In a QTV Balitanghali report, Albert Lim, president of the National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc. (NFHFI), reminded meat consumers not to “misconstrue" the Agriculture department’s order to kill 6,000 pigs in a farm in Pandi, saying the virus was confined in that facility.

“We are also apprehensive that if we keep on talking about this thing, some people might just misconstrue or misunderstand what they are talking about at baka matakot sila talaga [and people might get scared]," Lim said.

At the 18th Hog Farmers Convention in Club Filipino, Lim said the mere mention of Ebola scares people.

Also, he noted that the infection issue is still preventing them from exporting pork products.

According to GMA News.tv, agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap had said the “depopulation" move for some 6,000 pigs in Bulacan could not limit local pork stock, as the bulk represents only a small percentage of the total 15-million-metric-ton supply.

Despite the assurances, QTV’s Steve Dailisan reported that pork vendors in Mega Q-Mart in Quezon City have noted that more and more meat consumers start to shy away from buying pork.

Secretary Yap has already assured the public that prices of pork have remained stable amid the series of reports about the incidents of ERV in Central Luzon.

For its part, Bureau of Animal Industry director Davinio Catbagan assured owners of the infected farm in Pandi they would be properly indemnified after the depopulation process.

But Mr Catbagan refused to disclose the amount of remuneration they would be getting.

“Fina-finalize na lang ho ang contract [of indemnification]. Siyempre malaking halaga rin ito. Pero the amount dapat ay tamang-tama na if ever mangyari pa ito uli, hindi maabuso ang gobyreno," he said.

[We are finalizing the indemnification contract. But we will make sure the indemnification would not be open to abuse].

[mikey]

Wednesday, February 25, 2009Print This Page
Hogs to be Culled to Stamp Out Ebola Reston Virus
PHILIPPINES - Philippine agriculture authority will start culling roughly 6,000 heads of pigs in a farm in Luzon, northern Philippines in a move to curtail the transmission of Ebola Reston virus and protect the local livestock industry.



In a press briefing held Monday, Philippine Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap said that they decided to cull animals in a farm in Bulacan, as test results done by various local and international agencies reveal that viral transmission continues to exist in this farm.

Blood samples collected from humans and pigs in this farm were tested positive for the Ebola strain that is proved to pose non-fatal threat to human health.

The testing was done by a joint mission comprised of Food and Agricultural Organization, the World Animal Health Organization, the World Health Organization and their local counterparts.

The investigation on Ebola strain started last month, as it is the first time in the world that Ebola-Reston virus is found to linger in swine and evidence suggests that the virus might have jumped to hog-farm workers from the sick pigs.

Mr Yap assured that the culling won't affect meat supply in the country as the number is less than one per cent of the total hog population in the Philippines. There are over 10 million hogs being raised all over the country.

The Philippines is one of the world's biggest pork consumers and pork is one of the main protein sources among Filipinos.

Mr Yap said that the joint mission recommended this "management imperative" on the back of a possible pig to human transmission of Ebola-Reston virus.

Philippine Health Secretary earlier assured the public that the Ebola-Reston so far will not cause significant illness to humans.

Five people with regular contact with hogs were found to carry the anti-bodies of Ebola-Reston virus, which means they were infected by the strain but have fully recovered without apparent syndromes.

Experts of international agencies said they will continue to study the Ebola strain to know how it can be controlled.

"We can't speculate. We don't know the source of this virus, how it's being transmitted. We're studying that," said Soe Nyunt-U, WHO Representative in the Philippines.

"We support the Bureau of Animal Industry to expand surveillance in other areas," said Kazuyuki Tsurumi, FAO Representative in the Philippines

[mikey]

Thursday, February 26, 2009Print This Page
No Sign of Salmonella Outbreak in Hogs
PHILIPPINES - There is no salmonella outbreak in Region 8, announced Dr. Archie Lluz, Chief of Regional Animal Disease and Diagnostic Laboratory of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in the region.



Dr Lluz said that the results of the laboratory examination on specimens sent to Philippine Animal Health Center at the Bureau of Animal Industry in Manila proved to be negative of salmonella.

The results were identified as "Pasteurella hemolytica" a type of bacterial infection that reportedly causes deaths of swine and is due to bad sanitation and changes in weather conditions, Dr Lluz told ABS-CBN News.

Pigs with this infection reportedly suffer form loss of appetite, dehydration, fever and diarrhea.

Dr Lluz was referring to the specimens from Tacloban and Babatngon where cases of sick pigs were reported.

In Babatngon, there were 270 reported swine deaths due to this condition.

Swine vaccinations were already conducted to avoid the spread of the diseases.

Dr Lluz said, however, that there remains possibility that some of the dead hogs contracted hog cholera. He said, however that this has yet to be confirmed.

He also said, however, that hog raisers should immediately report sick pigs to local government veterinarians so that necessary measures could immediately be taken.

Never butcher hogs that are sick, Dr Lluz also warned. He said this will only make the spread of the disease easier and wider. Also, the sick hogs must be isolated from the healthy ones, he advised.

He said hog raisiers should always see to it that the environment where the swine are should be sanitary and clean. Dr Lluz said that those affected were those raised in backyard pens and not really those in hog farms.

The agriculture department has received reports of sick hogs and early slaughtering from Babatngon, Tacloban City, Alangalang, Sta. Fe, Palo, Pastrana, Dagami, Burauen, Tabontabon, Lapaz, Mayorga, and Abuyog in Leyte; Sogod in Southern Leyte; Catbalogan, Calbiga, Daram, and Sta. Rita in Samar; and Lope de Vega in Northern Samar.

Agricultural officials in the region reported that hog diseases have spread to 18 towns and one city in Eastern Visayas this month and have affected thousands of backyard hog raisers in the region.

DA officials said that unrestricted slaughtering of sick animals has triggered the spread of swine diseases.

Pork vendors in Tacloban are already complaining. They said there is a marked decrease in their sales because many consumers now refrain from buying pork for fear of salmonella.

There is no salmonella outbreak yet, reiterated DA officials. They also said that this type of infection can be treated by antibiotics.


 

[mikey]

Thursday, February 26, 2009Print This Page
DA 6: Western Visayas Pork is Ebola Reston-free
PHILIPPINES - Pork consumers in Western Visayas have nothing to fear with the reported ebola reston virus which was reported to have infected several hog farms in Luzon.



Dr. Jonic Natividad, Regional Quarantine Veterinary Officer of the Department of Agriculture in Region 6 said, "It is still safe to eat pork" emphasizing that per their monitoring, our region is still free from the threats of ebola reston.

Earlier, the Department of Health (DoH) in the region disclosed in their advisory that ebola reston is a non-pathogenic virus. Dr. Glenn Alonsabe, Regional Epidemiologist of DOH 6 said the virus is heat sensitive and can be killed "by cooking your food thoroughly".

During the PIA interview, Dr. Natividad said that the DA will conduct a meeting with "our meat dealers especially those importing meat products in the region in order to make sure that we have a safe products sold in the market".

As precaution, Dr. Natividad urged consumers to buy their pork products from accredited meat establishments.

Meanwhile, DA 6 Director Larry Nacionales said that Western Visayas has long been declared as foot and mouth disease free, and they are implementing measures to protect the hog industry from ebola reston virus.

[mikey]

Friday, February 27, 2009Print This Page
Culling of Pigs with Ebola Strain to Take a Week
PHILIPPINES - The culling of 6,000 pigs infected with the Ebola Reston virus in Pandi, Bulacan will push through on Saturday (28 February).



Health and agriculture officials said the pigs will be electrocuted, then buried in a 30-meter pit inside the farm.

ABS-CBN News reports that the media will not be allowed to cover the culling ordered by the government to prevent the possible spread of the disease.

The Department of Health (DOH) said this will also minimise human exposure to the sick pigs.

Health officials said the Ebola Reston virus poses no serious risks to humans.

The DOH said six pig farm workers have tested positive for Ebola Reston, but are in good health.

[mikey]

27 February 2009] Another slaughterhouse worker from Northern Philippines has tested positive for antibodies to the Ebola Reston virus (ERV), bringing the total to six. Philippine health officials said that the presence of antibodies indicates that he may have been infected with the virus in the past, although he had no direct contact with sick pigs. Scientists are still trying to determine whether the six caught the virus from pigs. Health Secretary Francisco Duque said experts fear that unless the spread of the ERV is curbed there is a possibility that the virus could mutate into fatal subtypes. The Philippines is already set to depopulate the farm in Bulacan which tested positive for the virus and which shows continued viral transmission to prevent further spread of the virus.

[mikey]

Monday, March 02, 2009Print This Page
Mass Pig Slaughter to Fight Ebola Commences
PHILIPPINES - Health and Agriculture officials arrived at a Filipino farm yesterday to begin slaughtering around 6,000 pigs to prevent the spread of the Ebola-Reston virus.



Security was tight with police checkpoints set up in Bulacan province to prevent reporters from getting close to the farm where traces of the non-lethal virus had been detected.

To keep outsiders away police secured even houses near the farm, reports The Manila Times.

Eric Tayag, head of the National Epidemiology Center, told reporters that an electric stun gun would be used to kill the pigs after which the carcasses would be burned and then buried.

He said they expected to cull only about 500 pigs Sunday but hoped later to slaughter a thousand a day, to complete the process within a week.

Aircraft were prevented from flying over the farm, Tayag said as he turned down a request from a local television station to shoot the scene from the air.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the strain infecting the pigs is not dangerous to humans, unlike the four deadly Ebola subtypes found in Africa.

The government earlier imposed quarantine on two farms in Bulacan and Pangasinan provinces after samples found some pigs were carrying the Ebola-Reston strain, reports The Manila Times. It was later found that the spread of the virus was only continuing in the farm in Pandi town, Bulacan province.

The strain was first found in laboratory monkeys exported from the Philippines to the US in 1989.

So far, six farm workers and butchers have been found with the antibodies to Ebola-Reston and scientists are still trying to determine if the six caught the virus from pigs.

If such a link is proved it would be the first time humans have contracted the disease from pigs.

Meanwhile.... Public Seeks Assurance
The National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc. (NFHFI) has assured the public of adequate supply of pork in the market amid threats of the virus.

In an interview on dzRB “Radyo ng Bayan,”, Mr Albert Lim, NFHFI president, said it is safe to eat pork and, despite reports that the virus is progressing, the supply chain is not affected.

He said despite the recent report of the virus progressing in Bulacan and Pampanga, farm-gate price of pork remains at P170 a kilo, indicating that the report has not affected the demand.

“The future is bright for the hog industry. The Philippines is a pork-eating country and Filipinos loves pork. Our pork is safe and the consumer can enjoy eating their favorite dish from pork,” he said.

While unfazed by the report that 6,000 swine in Bulacan had to be exterminated, Mr Lim also said the NFHFI is closely coordinating with several government agencies, led by the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Animal Industry, the Department of Health, the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization concerning the ERV to prevent outbreak.

The NFHFI will seek an audience with concerned DA officials to know the mechanism for the indemnification of hog raisers affected by the virus, according to news agency BusinessMirror

“We are also asking our members in Bulacan to monitor their hogs and coordinate with the Bureau of Animal Industry to prevent possible outbreak,” he said.

Amid new threats brought about by the ERV, hog farmers are now busy preparing for the 18th Annual Hog Convention and Trade Exhibits from 23-25 April, which will be held at the World Trade Center in Pasay.

The annual event is the biggest and longest-running trade exhibition focusing on the hog industry. It aims to gather thousands of commercial and backyard hog raisers from all over the country. The gathering is free to the public and welcomes those who are thinking of setting up their own businesses.

This year’s theme, “Leading the Way to Self-sufficiency and Sustainability in Pork Production,” aims to provide participants with practical and technical know-how in ensuring the safety and profitability of swine farming.

[mikey]

[2 March 2009] The Philippine Department of Agriculture is expanding the scope of testing for the Ebola Reston virus (ERV) to include the whole of Central Luzon and the Calabarzon regions, which are big pig producing areas, following the continued infection of a farm in Bulacan province that tested positive for ERV last year. Bureau of Animal Industry Director Davinio Catbagan said they expect the expanded testing to be completed within six months, however the agency is still awaiting the arrival of tests kits from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mr Catbagan said they currently have 10,000 kits and that a further 26,000 kits are needed to complete the expanded testing.

[mikey]

2 March 2009] Roughly 300 kg of tainted meat were confiscated at a local public market in Pasay City in the Philippines. Local officials said the meat was being loaded when it was seized and that the meat did pass through a legal slaughterhouse. It also lacked the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) certification, proof that the meat is safe for consumption. The Philippine Department of Health has already been urging Filipinos to buy only meat certified by the NMIS, amid the scare of diseases in the country. Meanwhile, the NMIS has been intensifying its efforts to control the sale of unsafe pork.

[mikey]

The Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA), local health and agricultural teams Sunday have started slaughtering, burning and burying roughly 6,000 hogs in a farm in Pandi, Bulacan, in Central Luzon on Sunday amid the Asian virus scare, as a precautionary measure and to protect the local livestock industry.

“We culled around 300 heads—piglets and growers—in two and a half hours; we tried to start the process at 5 p.m. Sunday; after three hours we disposed of 442 hogs; that includes transporting the hogs to an area in the farm where they will be disposed of; with this rate and with some improvements in the procedure tomorrow, we expect to complete the depopulation by Wednesday,” Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) head Davinio Catbagan said.

But according to Dr. Eric Tayag, the 56-man team's five captive bolts used in stunning the pigs malfunctioned, for which reason, they decided use instead .32 caliber pistols. "We need to finish this off because sometimes it rains," he said.

The culling was witnessed by representatives from FAO, the WHO, animal welfare observers, Bulacan Gov. Joselito Mendoza and Pandi Mayor Roberto Oca, Mr Catbagan said Monday. The slaughter was estimated to cost P16 million, which include hog farm owners' compensation and the cost of culling for five to seven days.

"State compensation for the owner cannot be [100% of the market price.] A range of about 25%-50%, but it has to be discussed [with the farm owner]. At 25%-50%, the government may pay the farm owner P6.28 million-P15.625 million, plus the cost of animal culling operations," said Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap.

A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test to check the virus' presence was conducted by the US CDC to verify ongoing transmission. "Of 160 pig blood samples that were positive for antibodies, 133 came from Bulacan and 27 from Pangasinan as reported by RITM. Those from Bulacan were traced to pigs at different age groups while those in Pangasinan were found in sows and just one piglet. This means that there is on going viral transmission in Bulacan but past infection with recovery was the case in Pangasinan,” DA Secretary Arthur Yap explained.

The agriculture officials earlier announced that the depopulation will be carried out in a “humane” manner, following current Office international des épizooties (OIE) procedures that ensure protection of animal welfare in the Bulacan farm. According to DOH Secretary Francisco Duque, the quarantine of the hog farm in Palauig, Manaoag, Pangasinan has been lifted after finding no traces of viral transmission.

According to DA Secretary Arthur C. Yap, test results conducted by a joint mission of Food and Agricultural Organization, the World Animal Health Organization, the World Health Organization and their local counterparts, reveal that viral transmission continues to exist in Pandi hog farms, which is only 0.5% of the 13 million pigs raised throughout the country.

Philippine Department of Health (DOH) officials also say a pig farm worker in Cabanatuan City in Nueva Ecija, who had no direct contact with sick hogs, has tested positive for Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies against the Reston ebolavirus (ERV), which is non-lethal, unlike the Zaïre, Bundibugyo (Uganda), Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa and Sudan strains, according to FAO.

“The additional positive human sample, showed signs of antibodies for Ebola-Reston, was traced to a slaughterhouse male worker and was not sick during visits by the investigation team. He does not recall any direct contact with sick pigs but remembers having flu-like sickness in the past twelve months," a DOH statement said, also confirming four pig farm workers and a butcher from Bulacan and Pangasinan tested positive for the antibodies last month.

"Ebola-Reston poses a low risk to human health at this time," said DOH Secretary Dr Duque. "147 human samples have been tested for Ebola, but only six have tested positive. But stay away from kilawin, and half-cooked pork," he added. The laboratory tests of 147 blood samples from workers in the affected areas were conducted by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) and the United States Center for Disease Control (US-CDC). RITM has also reported that "1039 pig blood samples collected by the expert mission yielded negative results on antigen tests," the DOH said.

The 24 other workers tested were all found negative for ERV infection. “To date, all close contacts of humans with positive anti-bodies who were tested remained anti-body-free signifying absence of illness in affected humans that can lead to possible human-to-human transmission,” Dr Duque said. The RITM and the US-CDC also tested 160 pig blood samples: 133 of which came from the Bulacan farm and 27 from the Pangasinan farm; of the 133 blood samples from Bulacan, 19 tested positive for ERV; none of 27 samples from Pangasinan were affected.

 
Map of Bulacan showing the location of PandiGlobal experts said they will continue to conduct research studies of the Ebola strain to determine how it can be controlled. FAO of the United Nations has initially committed P10 million to buy additional kits. "We support the Bureau of Animal Industry to expand surveillance in other areas," said Kazuyuki Tsurumi, FAO Representative in the Philippines. "We have not committed any amount of money... [but] we are ready to support a wider surveillance and capacity-building for more tests," Tsurumi explained.

"We can't speculate. We don't know the source of this virus, how it's being transmitted. We're studying that," said Soe Nyunt-U, WHO Representative in the Philippines. "Our current issue is that the test kits are limited because we are depending on the [United States] CDC [Center for Disease Control and Prevention] to send those kits. If we are going to extend the surveillance both in the animal and human side, we need more test kits," he added.

Both the DA and DOH officials have decided to expand the scope of the testing for the Ebola-Reston virus by inspecting and monitoring hog farms in the whole of Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Southern Luzon and Pangasinan province after the slaughter of the 6,000 infected pigs." As a precautionary measure, while there are many questions left unanswered, these ERV-contaminated pigs should be extinguished so we can move forward and study the virus," said the DA's Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) Director Davinio "Dave" Catbagan.

"In six months we might be finished testing Regions 3 and 4 depending on the assurance of the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention [in Atlanta, Georgia, USA] to give test kits. In Region 3 alone, the government would need to test farms in 566 villages that would require around 36,000 kits, but the country only has 10,000 kits" Mr. Catbagan said. "The expanded tests will cover the provinces of Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales in Central Luzon, and Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon in Calabarzon," Mr. Catbagan added.

Mr. Catbagan has assured infected hog farm owners in Pandi they would be properly indemnified after the country's first large-scale animal depopulation process. "We are finalizing the indemnification contract. But we will make sure the indemnification would not be open to abuse," he said. Fatteners and piglets cost an average of 3,000-4,000 pesos per head, boars cost 25,000-30,000 pesos, and sows cost 14,000-15,000 pesos.

 
Intensively farmed pigs in batch pensJuan Lubroth, senior officer of the Infectious Disease Group of FAO’s Animal Health Service, has arrived on Wednesday to discuss in detail with government officials how the agency can support in the wider surveillance. The DA and DOH officials and other government agencies have met on Thursday to discuss and finalize the procedure in the burning of 6,000 pigs in Pandi, Bulacan.

"The Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) and the provincial government of Bulacan, experts carrying out the 500,000 pesos five-day depopulation would observe three guidelines, namely: the main disposal, water safety, and environment protection. The depopulation process will involve stunning the pigs unconscious, burning them in a 6-foot deep pit, then burying them at the site. We want to make sure that our means would not violate the Animal Welfare Act. We are also ensuring that there would be no seepage," Governor Mendoza explained.

"Local authorities have decided to use electric prods and a P 70,000 captive bolt pistol with a blunt rod (also variously known as a cattle gun, stunbolt gun, bolt gun, or stunner) to stun the 6,000 pigs in Pandi, prior to slaughter burning using rice hulls before burying them in a pit dug inside the hog farm," said Dr. Davinio Catbagan.

"About 40 health workers – clad in special hog mask suits and are tasked to facilitate the depopulation – would then dump the pigs into 10 30x30-foot pits that can accommodate 600 pigs each. The pits are located some 30 feet from the infected pig farm," said Mr Eric Tayag, head of the National Epidemiology Centre. "The cull could take up to seven days to complete," Mr Tayag added. A truckload of disinfectants was prepared amid rice husks to be used in the burning.

The Pandi culling will be the first large-scale depopulation because of a disease, Samuel B. Animas, chief of BAI’s animal health division. "Only one to three pigs are slaughtered at a time in backyard farms during the foot and mouth disease infection [in the 1990s]," he added. Rising cases of dengue fever (in Malaysia), chikungunya (in Singapore), bird flu (in China and Vietnam) and ebola viruses were reported in several Asian countries in the past two months, causing the "diseases of globalization” scare.

Meanwhile, in the 18th hog farmers convention launched on Monday at Club Filipino, National Federation of Hog Farmers, Inc. (NFHFI) President Albert R. T. Lim, Jr. said hog raisers have feared the effects of Ebola Reston virus on industry, since hog exports are banned due to the infection issue. “We are also apprehensive that if we keep on talking about this thing, some people might just misconstrue or misunderstand what they are talking about and people might get scared," Lim said.

The government has spent about 10 million pesos to maintain the two quarantined hog farms in Bulacan and Pangasinan. “Anyway, we always have our hog producers in Mindanao to supply Luzon if necessary. I am more concerned about our exports although the Ebola scare also somewhat affected local demand,” Lim said.

Amid nationwide ERV scare and probe, local authorities have seized more than 200 kilograms of rotten pork meat at a local market in Pasay City Wednesday. Barangay officials in Maricaban district have intercepted the banned ‘hot meat’ and arrested Roberto Clet and Rafael Fruelda, who were indicted under the "Consumer Act of the Philippines." The statute punishes the illegal sale of unsafe products like double-dead meat with penalty of P1,000 to P10,000 and not less than six-months but not more than five years of imprisonment.

 
Transmission Electron Micrograph of the Ebola Virus.Local police has also arrested four vendors and seized their 3,000 kilos of "botcha" (rotten pork meat or "double dead meat") at MC Market in Balintawak, Quezon City Wednesday evening, and allegedly delivered from Bulacan. The four suspects were charged for violation of the Consumer Act of the Philippines and Republic Act 9296 or the Meat Inspection Code.

In December, International experts have investigated the deadly Ebola Reston virus outbreak wherein about 6,000 pigs at Pandi and Talavera farms had been tested for the Ebola-Reston virus.

"There is no salmonella outbreak in Eastern Visayas, Region 8, said Dr. Archie Lluz, Chief of Regional Animal Disease and Diagnostic Laboratory of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in the region. But hog specimens from Leyte and Babatngon (270 reported swine deaths) where cases of sick pigs were reported, were examined by lab tests. The results revealed cutaneous "Pasteurella hemolytica", a type of bacterial infection which causes swine deaths due to loss of appetite, dehydration, fever and diarrhea.

According to the Department of Agriculture, sick pigs had been culled from Babatngon, Tacloban City, Alangalang, Sta. Fe, Palo, Pastrana, Dagami, Burauen, Tabontabon, Lapaz, Mayorga, and Abuyog in Leyte; Sogod in Southern Leyte; Catbalogan, Calbiga, Daram, and Sta. Rita in Samar; and Lope de Vega in Northern Samar|. Swine infections have spread to 18 towns and one city in Eastern Visayas.

The Reston ebolavirus is suspected of being either another subtype of the Ebola or a new filovirus of Asian origin. It was first discovered in crab-eating macaques originating in the Philippines, from Hazleton Laboratories (now Covance) in 1989. This discovery attracted significant media attention and led to the publication of The Hot Zone. There was then, an outbreak of viral hemorrhagic fever among monkeys imported from the Philippines to Reston, Virginia. The Ebola-Reston strain was discovered among Philippine monkeys in the U.S. again in 1990 and 1996, and in Italy in 1992.

African strains of the virus caused deaths of about 50 percent to 90 percent of those infected with prior symptoms of lethal bleeding and organ failure, the World Health Organization said. “Since the 1970s, scientists, veterinarians, microbiologists and physicians have been looking at thousands of species to see if they can find this elusive reservoir, and we have been pretty much empty-handed,” Juan Lubroth, head of infectious diseases in the animal health unit of the Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, explained.

"Unlike the three subtypes, Zaire, Sudan and Ivory Coast, which can cause hemorrhagic symptoms, Reston does not. There has been no evidence that Reston can cause significant illness in humans. When Reston was previously found in monkeys, few animal handlers were infected but only one had very mild symptoms," the Philippine Department of Health (DOH) official website statement on the virus announced.

In January 1997, The Philippines Department of Environment and Natural Resources had ordered the immediate slaughter of some 600 monkeys in Ferlite, a breeding farm in Laguna, to prevent an outbreak of the deadly Ebola Reston strain virus.

[mikey]

Hog culling to cost P16 million
THIS WEEK’S culling of at least 6,000 hogs in a farm north of Metro Manila this week following a confirmed outbreak of the non-lethal Ebola Reston may cost the state about P16 million-P17 million, according to estimates by hog industry participants.


Heavily armed police prevent people from entering the site where 6,000 Ebola Reston-infected pigs would be slaughtered in Pandi, Bulacan province, north of Manila. The government was set to slaughter 6,000 pigs on a farm where the non-lethal virus has been found in the animals and its antibodies in humans, health officials said. — AFPThe expense would include compensation for the hog farm owner and the cost of culling for five to seven days. The activity would be the first disease-related large-scale destruction of domestic animals.

The Agriculture department is mum on the actual compensation for the farm owner.

"The amount should just be right such that if other cases like these happens, the government will not be abused just right to prevent hog farmers from [not reporting] the disease," Davinio P. Catbagan, director of the Bureau of Animal Industry, said last week.

Asked how much would the state compensate the owner, Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap said: "it cannot be [100% of the market price.] A range of about 25%-50%, but it has to be discussed [with the farm owner]."

At 25%-50%, the government may pay the farm owner P6.28 million-P15.625 million, plus the cost of animal culling operations.

Richard G. Yu, president of the Bulacan Swine and Poultry Producers Association, estimated that a farm equal to the size of the Pandi operations might have some 25 boars and 500-600 sows, while the remaining are fatteners of all ages.

Fatteners and piglets, at current market prices, are worth P3,000-P4,000 apiece on the average, while boars cost P25,000-P30,000, and sows are sold at P14,000-P15,000, Albert R. T. Lim, Jr., president of the National Federation of Hog Farmers, Inc., told BusinessWorld.

Boars and sows are priced higher compared with the fatteners as the breeders are responsible for the quality of hogs the farms produce.

Based on market estimates, buying all 6,000 hogs will cost P25.15 million-P31.25 million — P625,000-P750,000 for the boars, P8.4 million-P9 million for the sows and P16.125 million-P21.5 million for the fatteners.

Furthermore, the slaughter of hogs, which will involve stunning the pigs unconscious, burning them in a pit, and burying them at the site, would need around P500,000.

About 40 health workers and 30 farm workers were tasked to depopulate the farm, which was set to start yesterday.

The hog farm would undergo another inspection in the next six months to recheck the presence of the virus. — Neil Jerome C. Morales

[mikey]

PETA heartbreak: Wailing of hungry pigs


By Carmela Reyes, Riza T. Olchondra
Central Luzon Desk
First Posted 05:18:00 03/03/2009

Filed Under: Plant and Animal Diseases, Animals, Consumer Issues, Health


PANDI, BULACAN—One of the things that broke the hearts of animal lovers who witnessed the officially sanctioned killing of hundreds of pigs infected with the Ebola-Reston virus (ERV) was that the hogs were not fed for days before they were destroyed.

“We understand that the owner ran out of (funds) to sustain the feeding and that is more painful,” said Anna Cabrera, program director of the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS).

“The sound of wailing pigs filled the farm when the animals were led out because they had not been fed for days and this is what really made us cry,” Cabrera said in English and Filipino.

Bureau of Animal Industry Director Davinio Catbagan said that after the culling in Bulacan, tests would be done in other farms all over the province.

Other farms to be tested

Testing will later be expanded to the whole of Central Luzon and the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon).

Catbagan said farms in the two regions would have been tested within six months with the help of international health experts.

According to the World Health Organization, the strain of the Ebola virus infecting the hogs in Bulacan is not dangerous to humans, unlike the four deadly subtypes found in Africa.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the virus was considered posing minimal threat to humans, noting that the six people who have tested positive for antibodies only showed mild flu symptoms and have completely recovered.

However, he said that all unusual sickness and death in pigs should be reported to authorities, and this should be combined with cautious handling of carcasses, prohibiting the entry of double dead meat in the food chain and proper cooking of food.

The government imposed quarantine on two farms in Pandi, Bulacan, and Manaoag, Pangasinan, late last year after samples found some pigs infected with the virus. It was later found that the spread of the virus was only continuing in the farm in Pandi.

Philippines only

The strain was first found in laboratory monkeys exported from the Philippines to the United States in 1989.

Officials say the Philippines is believed to be the first country in the world where the Ebola-Reston virus has been detected in pigs.

Scientists are still trying to determine if the six caught the virus from hogs.

Health experts are still studying how hogs contracted the virus and if they can pass it on to humans or vice-versa.

No effect on prices

The culling of 6,000 hogs in the town of Pandi is not expected to negatively affect the supply and price of pork, hog industry players said.

The 6,000 represent only about 0.05 percent of the 13 million hogs being raised in the country, according to industry data.

“Anyway, we always have our hog producers in Mindanao to supply Luzon, if necessary,” National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc. president Albert R. T. Lim said in an interview.

According to Bureau of Agricultural Statistics data, pork prices have remained stable with pork ham staying at P170 per kilogram since last month.

The price of chicken, which consumers commonly turn to when avoiding pork, in fact declined from P130 per kg (for whole chicken) to P120 per kg.

Gandhi invoked

An international animal rights group on Monday quoted the Indian advocate of nonviolence, Mahatma Gandhi, in appealing to the government for humane treatment of the infected pigs.

In a letter, the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) reminded Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap that it was no less than Gandhi who said that: “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by how they treat their animals.”

“I urge you to prove the Philippines to be the compassionate nation we know it to be, and secure humane treatment of these animals immediately,” Rochelle Regodon, campaigns manager of PETA Asia-Pacific, said in the letter e-mailed to Yap Monday.

Another concern

PETA expressed concern that the pigs scheduled for killing were not being fed before their culling.

“(PETA) would like to request that your department immediately intervene and secure the humane treatment of the remaining animals over the next two days,” Regodon said.

Regodon said “failure to provide feed to these animals is in direct violation of the Animal Welfare Act of 1998 (Republic Act No. 8485).” With reports from Nikko Dizon and Jerome Aning
 

 

[mikey]

Tuesday, March 03, 2009Print This Page
Culling of Pigs Expected to Happen on Schedule
PHILIPPINES - The National Epidemiology Center (NEC) of the Department of Health and the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) expect to finish the depopulation of some 6,000 pigs from a farm in Pandi, Bulacan on Wednesday.



BAI Director, Davinio Catbagan Jr., said that on Sunday, they had killed and buried 472 Ebola Reston virus pig carriers on Sunday.

Mr Catbagan said that they expect to shift to a higher gear today, with their killing, burning and burying to be done in the morning and afternoon, according to The Manila Times.

Mr Catbagan said that they hope to be able to achieve more than the target 500 a day.

Because of this, Mr Catbagan said, they can more than double their speed, and expect to finish it by Wednesday.

NEC Director Dr Eric Tayag assured the public that the buried pigs could not be excavated since it is buried below the ground and inside the farm itself.

He added that access to the farm is also limited.

Pigs to be Shot if Stunning Proves a Failure
The number of pigs culled turned out to be 1,237 by day two at a farm in Pandi, Bulacan, reports ABS-CBN News.

Bulacan's provincial health officer, Dr. Joy Gomez, who is also the spokesperson for the depopulation committee, reported Tuesday morning that the big increase in number from 442 yesterday is due to the adjustments and lessons learned from the procedures in last Sunday's dry-run.

According to Dr Gomez, depopulation teams started working around three in the afternoon on Monday and ended at past eight in the evening with 795 pigs culled.

Stunning, through the use of a captive bolt, is still the method used to cull the pigs.

New photos and videos were also released to media showing workers unloading pigs on the pit, workers taking tissue samples on pigs' carcasses, and the actual burning of culled pigs.

At Bocaue Public Market, which is two towns away from Pandi, Governor Jonjon Mendoza on Tuesday checked if the contamination of Ebola Reston virus at a farm in Pandi has affected pork sales in public markets of the province.

It turned out that pork sales were at a low even before the virus contamination was publicised.

Meanwhile, in the Markets
Meanwhile, Business World reports that the agriculture department plans to ask hog industry leaders next month to review their prices in a bid to spur currently dampened consumption.

"There is already reduced consumption people are shying away from pork products," Agriculture Assistant Secretary Salvador S. Salacup said in a telephone interview yesterday.

Mr Salacup said the drop in pork consumption resulted from a confluence of the Lenten season, the Ebola Reston scare, and high pork prices.

But Renato R. Eleria, chairman of the National Federation of Hog Farmers, Inc., said in a separate phone interview that "the occasional drop in consumption is not because of the Ebola Reston, but because retail prices have not gone down."

Pork prices rose to P160 per kilogram to P190/kg. last week from P150-P190/kg. in January and from P145-P170/kg. in end-December because of high feed prices, Bureau of Agricultural Statistics data show.

Meanwhile, prices of corn, the main ingredient in animal feeds, rose to P21/kg. late in January fromP13-14/kg. in early January and from P12/kg. in December amid tight supply. Retail prices of corn were at P22.25/kg. late in February. The private sector shipped 100,000 metric tons of corn from Brazil and 120,000 MT of feed wheat — a feed ingredient used as a substitute for corn — from Ukraine last month to address the shortage. Mr. Eleria said farm-gate prices have fallen this month by P5/kg. from P110/kg. in January, but retail prices have yet to adjust accordingly.

The department will review cost of production and effects of the Ebola Reston scare on consumption, Mr Salacup said.

[mikey]

Wednesday, March 04, 2009Print This Page
Bulacan Hog Industry will Recover After Culling
PHILIPPINES - Bulacan Governor Joselito Mendoza said today he is optimistic that the dying hog industry in the province will recover as soon as the government is done with the culling of the Ebola Reston-infected pigs in Pandi town.



"Just like in the past when pigs were struck by FMD (food and mouth disease), the hog industry was able to recover," Mr Mendoza told ABS-CBN's morning show, "Umagang Kay Ganda."

Mr Mendoza on Tuesday said that the already troubled hog industry in the province was aggravated by the Ebola Reston scare, bringing down the sales of pork by 50 a whopping per cent.

"When I went around [public markets] yesterday (Tuesday), vendors told me that pork sales dropped by 50 per cent. Market vendors selling eight pigs a day are now selling only four," the governor said.

Mr Mendoza said hog traders around the province told him that pork sales have been cut to half since the Department of Health (DOH) revealed the Ebola Reston infection in pigs from farm in Pandi town.

The governor, however, said that he is expecting the hog industry in the province to recover as soon as the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) finishes the culling of the Ebola Reston-infected pigs in Pandi town this week.

He said a total of 2,662 pigs have been killed and he expects the BAI to finish the culling of more than 3,000 more infected pigs by Friday.

[mikey]

DOH to conduct nationwide random tests on hog farms for Reston virus

MANILA,(PNA) – The Department of Health (DOH) will expand the random tests for Ebola Reston Virus (ERV) on pigs raised in hog farms scattered nationwide.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the random testing will be conducted as early this week because they are still not aware on the extent of infection of the ERV on other hog farms in the country.

“If we fail to identify the extent of the transmission of the virus, the possibility of virus mutation arises. This means that a more dangerous virus can evolve from ERV," Duque said.

DOH-National Epidemiology Center (NEC) director Eric Tayag admitted there are still a lot of piggeries that remain untested for ERV.

“The joint committee on ERV has agreed to conduct the tests as soon as possible. We also need to intensify our monitoring and surveillance operations on hog farms,” Tayag said.

The DOH and Agriculture department earlier ordered the depopulation of some 6,000 pigs from a hog farm in Pandi, Bulacan where experts found an “ongoing transmission” of the virus.

Both Duque and Tayag stressed the need to contain the virus in the earliest time to prevent more humans from getting infected by ERV.

As of Thursday, 31 persons have reportedly been infected by the virus. However, all of them did not show any changes in their bodies or have been sick due to the transmission.

Health experts said those infected were only found positive for Immunoglobulin (IgG) antibodies which signified that their bodies have effectively mounted a protective defense against the ERV.

Although those infected do not manifest any sign of disease, all of them are now under strict observation.

Experts from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) who are here in the Philippines to study the ERV incident have admitted that they still uncertain on the real effects of the virus to the human's body.

The FAO experts said only infections can occur but there is no serious clinical disease based on their observations.

Meanwhile, agencies concerned in the depopulation met last Wednesday to set the standards in killing and burning the 6,000 pigs from Winfarm in Pandi town.

The DOH said the procedure should meet with international standards, avoid animal to human transmission, and make sure that the ashes from the burning will not spread through air.

The government has assured the owners of Winfarm in Pandi town that it will fairly compensate their losses from the depopulation.

While there is still no evidence linking the ERV transmission from eating pork, the DOH advised those who will consume pig meat to cook it properly.

He said consumers should always look for the seal of the National Meat Inspection Service when buying pork so they will be assured that it passed safety tests of the government.

The DA has setup checkpoints in North Luzon to guard the possible entry of "double-dead" meat in Manila.

Swine industry is second highest in the country’s the P1.3 trillion agriculture industry. Hog earnings have reach P150 billion second to palay industry with P160 billion in 2008.(PNA)