Culling picks up speed, down to 27% of 6,500 pigs - Yap

MANILA, Philippines - The team conducting depopulation of hogs in Bulacan is back on track and is likely to meet the Friday deadline as almost 5,000 or 73 percent of the 6,500 pigs from an infected farm in Pandi town have been killed. Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap told reporters in a text message that culling team members have picked up speed in the process after encountering several delays in the first few days. Citing the latest update from the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), Yap said that on Wednesday alone, the team was able to kill 2,078 pigs, bringing the total to 4,741. BAI director Davinio Catbagan earlier said the team would be able to complete the work in six days - given the 1,000-pigs-a-day killing rate. He expects depopulation process would be finished by Friday. In the first few days of the process, several problems cropped up, including the failure of several of the captive bolt pistols used to stun the animals. The BAI fell short of its initial 500-pig target when it was only able to kill a little over 400 pigs on Sunday – the first day of the operation. But in succeeding days, the team picked up speed and by Tuesday night it raised the toll up to 2,663 pigs. Authorities said that, on the average, one pig is killed every two minutes. Originally 6,000, the number had swelled to 6,500 as some mother pigs still managed to give birth while being held at the depopulation facility. The pigs were ordered slaughtered after foreign health experts found that some of the animals were found positive for the Ebola Reston virus, a non-lethal virus that infected not only by pigs in a Pandi farm but also by a number of farm workers in Central Luzon. Animal welfare advocated were invited to monitor the culling process to ensure the humane treatment of the animals - a method which would cost the government roughly P17 million. Workers were required to wear protective suits to ensure their safety. But a number of workers, reportedly suffering from dehydration, experienced nausea and dizziness due to the intense heat of the sun and the 8-ft x 30-ft furnaces. Medical response teams, however, are ready to attend to the workers. - Mark Merueñas, GMANews.TV