Food waste seen as carrier of unidentified swine disease

The cause of the unidentified swine disease in Rizal that saw the deaths of backyard hogs in the area were believed to have been caused by food waste.

According to an Inquirer source, initial investigations made by the Department of Agriculture (DA) showed that the virus most likely came from leftovers that were contaminated and were used by backyard raisers as swill food.

Swill feeding is a widespread practice among backyard hog raisers because of its affordability. Last year, the DA banned the use of catering and restaurant leftovers from airports to ensure that the African swine fever (ASF) virus would not enter the country, but security protocols might have been lax.

There are already four countries in Southeast Asia that were reported to have cases of ASF. These are Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and most recently Myanmar.

While Agriculture Secretary William Dar neither confirmed nor denied that the virus could be ASF, some local government units (LGUs) including those of Bohol, Pampanga and Batangas have already banned the movement of live animals in their areas.

However, industry groups said LGUs must focus on monitoring frozen pork and pork products in the market as well, especially those that were imported and smuggled that could be carriers of the disease.

In a television interview, Dar urged local hog raisers to observe good livestock practices. The Bureau of Animal Industry has also employed the BABES approach, which is acronym for banning importation, avoiding swill feeding, blocking the entry of smuggled shipments and luggage from ASF-affected countries including food wastes from foreign vessels and hand-carried meat products, educating the public, and submitting laboratory samples.

The DA said they were expecting confirmatory tests to be released in two weeks or three months at the latest. For now, officials have been reluctant in giving out information regarding the hog deaths.