Roxas, Mansalay towns in Oriental Mindoro under state of calamity due to ASF

The towns of Roxas and Mansalay in Oriental Mindoro have been placed under a state of calamity after the first case of African swine fever (ASF) was recorded.

• Oriental Mindoro detects first cases of African swine fever

The Sangguniang Panlalawigan approved Governor Bonz Dolor's request to declare the aforementioned towns under a state of calamity in order to expedite the necessary measures to combat the spread of ASF to other parts of Oriental Mindoro.

On Monday, Governor Dolor announced the first case of ASF in Barangay Danggay and Bagumbayan in Roxas after confirmatory tests by the Bureau of Animal Industry veterinary laboratory division following a series of consecutive reported pig deaths in the said areas.

Testing will also be conducted in five more barangays in the town of Roxas and one barangay in the town of Mansalay, which have also recorded cases of pig deaths possibly due to ASF.

"Nagrequest na po ako ng test kits na kung pu-pwede ay dito na po sa Mindoro ma-test at ang commitment po sa akin kahapon ay on the way na po kagabi 'yung 360 test kits. Initially ang ibig sabihin enough po for 360 samples and this afternoon po may nakuha naman po available galing ibang regions pending the emergency procurement ng Department of Agriculture," Dolor said in an interview with Teleradyo Serbisyo.

Checkpoints have also been set up at the boundaries of Roxas-Bongabong and Roxas-Mansalay.

The governor has also ordered a ban on the transport of pigs and any pork products out of the towns of Roxas and Mansalay, as well as from Roxas Port to the Visayas area.

"Bawal po maglabas ng kahit ano, ang atin pong port ay no export zone na siya. Bawal po maglabas ng kahit anong produkto na may kaugnayan sa baboy until after maclear na po natin 'yung buong area," he said.

Oriental Mindoro is one of the major suppliers of pigs to Metro Manila.

In August 2023, it is estimated that Oriental Mindoro supplied around 348,000 pigs.

This is the first recorded case of ASF in Oriental Mindoro in the past four years.

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