DA lifts quarantine on Manaoag pig farm
THE ebola reston virus (ERV) scare in Pangasinan is finally over.
Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap announced in Dagupan City on Wednesday that he had ordered the lifting of the quarantine on a pig farm in Manaoag previously tagged as susceptible to ERV.
The quarantine was imposed in October last year when the pig farm in Barangay Parian, near the town’s border with Mapandan, was found to have pigs afflicted with ERV.
The lifting of the quarantine means Pangasinenses are assured that the pork they are buying from the local markets are safe, said Yap in a talk to local media during the welcome party for officials of the Ilocos Region Athletic Association (IRAA) Meet at the Fishpond Resort of Dagupan Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr.
However, Yap urged consumers to still refrain from eating raw meat such as kilawen. “Meat is always safer to eat if cooked thoroughly,” he said.
WHO, DOH and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations sent international experts last January to look into the ERV strain detected on some pigs in the provinces of Bulacan, Pangasinan and Nueva Ecija, being the first of its kind ever discovered in the world.
Provincial Veterinarian Benedicto Perez told THE PUNCH that the lifting of the quarantine was based on the recommendation of the foreign experts who monitored the Manaoag farm.
However, viral transmission of ERV in a pig farm in Pandi, Bulacan remains under tight quarantine until the mass killing of the infected hogs is implemented.
In a related development, Yap announced that the Bureau of Animal Industry has intensified its anti-FMD (Foot and Mouth Disease) campaign, including the monitoring against the so-called ‘double-dead meat’.
He called on consumers to take the necessary precaution by checking the skin of the pork, which should contain a violet marking bearing the name of National Meat and Inspection Services, which is an indication that the meat is duly certified.—LM
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