DA seizes 169 hogs for falsified docs or ASF symptoms

A total of 169 hogs were intercepted at checkpoints in Quezon City and Mindanao Avenue on Thursday for falsified documents or showing signs of African Swine Fever (ASF).

The Department of Agriculture and Bureau of Animal Industry seized two trucks carrying the hogs; one truck had 87 hogs while another carried 60, with an additional stop at Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City where a truck was found to be using recycled local shipping permits and carrying 38 pigs showing symptoms of ASF.

Assistant Secretary Dante Palabrica confirmed that pigs testing positive for ASF will be culled and buried at designated sites by the Department of Agriculture to prevent further spread.

In response to the rising number of active ASF cases, especially during the rainy season, livestock checkpoints have been established in key areas including Quezon City, Valenzuela City, Laguna, Batangas, Cavite, Tagaytay-Nasugbu Highway, and San Jose Del Monte in Bulacan.

The Department of Agriculture is setting up additional checkpoints and coordinating with local traffic enforcers to prevent the spread of ASF. A new checkpoint has been established in Malanday, Venezuela City after recording suspected cases of ASF-infected hogs.