The Department of Agriculture (DA) through its attached agency, the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) has issued an advisory and warned the public of the presence of swine flu, while recommending swine farm owners to immediately implement biosafety and biosecurity programs through their veterinarians.
The advisory urged the public to report any unusual pig mortalities to nearest government veterinary or agriculture office and to consult a physician when the pigs are experiencing flu-like symptoms.
The DA-BAI warned that reports on flu-like symptoms have been increasing this rainy season and this could affect both agricultural workers and our swine production.
They furthrer said that news regarding the new type of swine flu has been circulating online causing worries to both farm workers and the general public.
As published in several online journals, researchers in China have discovered a new type of swine flu that is capable of triggering a pandemic. According to the study, the virus named G4 descended from the H1N1 strain that caused a pandemic in 2009. The study that was conducted in China from 2011 to 2018 revealed that 10.4% of swine workers had already been exposed and as many as 4.4% of the general population also appeared to have antibodies.
“This shows that the virus can be passed from animals to humans, but human to human transmission has not been established yet,” the DA said.
The DA-BAI assured the public that the Philippines does not import swine or pork products from China.
The National Task Force on Animal-Borne Diseases (NTFAD), chaired by the DA, led by Secretary William Dar, will report appropriate recommendations to President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on managing emerging diseases that affects animals and humans.
Since last year, when the African Swine Flu (ASF) has affected livestocks in mainland Luzon, the DA-BAI) at Puerto Princesa Port Integrated Clearance Office has been on alert and conducted biosecurity measures at airport and seaport to ensure that possible infected livestock or meat products will not enter in Palawan.
The DA-BAI encouraged farm owners to report to the Department of Health (DOH) any unusual sickness among farm workers. They likewise advised the public to report or inquire through their hotline at 09951329339 or 09208543119.
Discussion about this post