The Cebu Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) has intensified its African swine fever (ASF) surveillance in Ginatilan after three pig samples tested positive for the virus, prompting the quarantine of two barangays and the establishment of six checkpoints.
Provincial Veterinarian Dr. Mary Rose Vincoy said the three positive samples were among four collected from Ginatilan and submitted to the Department of Agriculture’s Regional Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (RADDL).
A fifth sample collected from nearby Malabuyoc tested negative.
The PVO placed Barangays Cagsing and Calabawan under quarantine and imposed a no-movement policy covering hogs, pork and pork by-products in the affected areas.
“The whole barangay of Cagsing is in quarantine zone. And same with Barangay Calabawan,” Vincoy said.
Six checkpoints and chokepoints have been established across Ginatilan, including along the highway and possible upland routes that could be used to transport pigs or pork products toward neighboring municipalities.
The PVO is also investigating how the virus entered Ginatilan, but has yet to establish a confirmed source.
Vincoy said investigators received information that some affected pigs may have had contact with animals coming from Negros Oriental. There were also reports that some pigs may have been brought from an event in Tanjay, while others were transported from the owners’ homes.
She stressed that these accounts remain subject to verification and cannot yet be identified as the source of the outbreak.
“There are information that surfaced. But I cannot say that this is the real cause,” she said.
The investigation began after the PVO conducted disease tracing following reports of pig mortalities in nearby Malabuyoc. The back-tracing eventually led veterinary personnel to border areas of Ginatilan.
The PVO is now checking other parts of Ginatilan to determine whether the virus has spread beyond Cagsing and Calabawan.
Seven additional samples collected from farmers and households in the two affected barangays have tested negative. Vincoy said, however, that the agency will continue collecting samples and investigating reports of previously unreported pig deaths.
Five provincial veterinarians have been deployed to the area since Saturday, while PVO Animal Health Division chief Dr. Mezado has been stationed in Ginatilan to monitor the response.
The province has collected 2,101 samples across Cebu as part of its ASF surveillance and disease investigation efforts, Vincoy said.
No culling operation has been launched in Ginatilan so far as the PVO continues to consolidate the investigation and await results from additional samples.
The initial samples were taken from pigs that were already sick and later died. Vincoy said authorities could not yet provide a final count of pig deaths in the affected areas.
For now, the provincial government is focused on preventing the virus from spreading beyond the quarantined barangays.
“There is no assurance for all of our activities. What we can say is just, we implement the necessary actions which is the quarantine, we quarantine the area,” Vincoy said.
The PVO is also coordinating with neighboring local governments and veterinary offices, particularly those sharing borders with Ginatilan, as surveillance and movement controls continue.
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