KIDAPAWAN CITY, North Cotabato – The contagious African swine fever (ASF) has penetrated a remote village here despite strict anti-ASF protocols.

The Department of Agriculture in Region 12 (DA-12) said the dreaded hemorrhagic disease affecting hogs has now affected Barangay Linangkob, located in the boundary of this city and Magpet town, where the first ASF case in the province was recorded in June this year.

“One of the three meat samples submitted to the Bureau of Animal Industry laboratory in General Santos City from Linangkob village was tested positive for ASF,” DA-12 Director Arlan Mangelen said in an interview by reporters here Saturday.

This city is now added to the list of areas penetrated by ASF that included the towns of Magpet, Arakan and President Roxas.

Current estimate to the damage caused by ASF in the province was pegged at PHP 6.6 million.

Dr. Eugene Gornez, the city veterinarian, said close to 100 hogs are set to be depopulated within the 500-meter radius particularly in Sitio Mangosteen, Barangay Linangkob to prevent the spread of the ASF to nearby villages.

“The ASF contamination may possibly come from the flowing water of Marbel River where many hog cubicles in adjacent Magpet town were set up near the riverbank,” Gornez said.

The veterinary office is currently gathering hog meat and water samples within the seven-kilometer radius from Lumangkob, which includes the adjacent villages of Sto. Niño, Marbel, New Bohol and Mateo. (PNA)