Farm chief assures Visayas, Mindanao vs ebola fears

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines — Amid worries by local groups of possible contamination of their livestock, the Department of Agriculture has assured that hogs outside Luzon are, so far, free from the Ebola Reston virus. "I’m personally confident that the Visayas and Mindanao were not affected at all by the virus," a statement Thursday quoted Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap as saying. Two weeks ago, the local livestock industry was alarmed over the reported detection of the Ebola Reston strain in two farms in Luzon, since Misamis Oriental and this city has had reports of hog cholera virus among backyard hog farms. The city earlier reported 2,000 hog fatalities, while the province of Misamis Oriental had another 300. Regional Agriculture officials, however, said the hog deaths were due to unhygienic hog management and delayed implementation of a program for small-scale hog raisers. The city and provincial veterinary offices have since been waging widespread vaccination campaigns. The country’s first shipment of pork meat to Singapore from South Cotabato had been put on hold when the Ebola report came out. — G. P. Alba, BusinessWorld