MANILA, Philippines — At a joint meeting of the House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture, the Department of Agriculture reported Tuesday (26 November 2019) that the number of cases of African Swine Fever in the country has gone down or declining.

According to Ronnie Domingo, the officer in charge of the Bureau of Animal Industry, this is because the ASF is afraid of the dry season.

In addition, local governments have allegedly become aware of the problem and have been proactive in implementing control measures.

Domingo said as many as 461 barangays were reported to have been affected by the ASF virus and that he estimated at least 20,000 hogs got infected by the ASF over the past four months.

He said it was a small percentage compared to almost half a million cases of only one month in Vietnam. (Marian Sinmaban/IAMIGO/CNS)