Trust is key to effective ASF containment
After almost sixty (60) hogs in Barangays Mayacabac, Biking, and Mariveles in Dauis were confirmed to be positive of African Swine Fever (ASF) on April 22, 2024, all hell started to break lose at the entry and exit points to and from the island of Panglao. Many motorists were stuck in heavy traffic due to the checkpoints set up at the border going to Tagbilaran City. There are reports that some medical professionals who had emergency cases in hospitals at the provincial capital were among those who could not get to their patients on time.
The control measures implemented to contain the spread of ASF in the province is understandably necessary. While ASF poses no direct risk of transmission from hogs to human beings, the disruption in the supply of pork in the Province may cause the prices of pork and substitute products to increase. Unlike COVID-19 however, which is considered a direct existential threat to human beings, ASF poses a threat to our food security. But with substitute food products still available, the threat to our food security many not be of the same level as COVID-19.
The spectacle of vehicles stuck in traffic is reminiscent of the suffering we experienced during the pandemic, although it may not be of the same proportion as the community quarantine measures not too long ago. With the limitation of the right of locomotion, the people affected by the measure are entitled to have access to right information for them to assess whether there is proportionality in the means implemented vis-à-vis the objective sought to be attained.
This brings us now to the question: Is the border control currently implemented necessary?
There are blind spots in the implementation of current restriction in people’s movement at the border between the island of Panglao and the mainland. There are no big-time commercial hog raisers in the island of Panglao. Most, if not all, may only be backyard hog raisers. And people are asking. Are the LGUs of Dauis and Panglao really not capable of conducting rapid inventory of hogs per barangay and institute containment measures at the barangay level?
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the main pathways for transmission of ASF are: (1) via introduction of infected pigs to farms or allowing contact with infected pigs; (2) people (for example, farmers, animal health workers, and traders or middlemen) who have been contaminated with ASFV and who bring contaminated items onto farms, such as tools, equipment, boots and clothing, unwashed hands and vehicles; (3) and feeding of food scraps or leftovers that contain uncooked pork derived from infected animals. It has identified effective containment measures at the farm or household level.
FAO has identified a potential problem in preventing the spread of ASF. For many poor farmers, the logical response to a disease outbreak (including ASF) is to sell as many pigs as possible, even if this means receiving a lower price and spreading the disease. Compensation or insurance systems can help to overcome these issues, but even when in place, they do not guarantee that all farmers will report the disease.
While the foregoing behavior among hog farmers may contribute to the spread, the biggest problem in the disease containment is trust in government institutions. FAO said that trust is low in many places, which also inhibits disease reporting. It is eroded further when outbreaks result in measures that are potentially more costly than the disease for affected producers. For example, if there is a previous history of delayed payment of compensation or no payment, then trust is lost and can be difficult to restore.
Elimination of the virus will not occur if reporting of disease results in (or is seen to result in) producers being disadvantaged, including the absence of reasonable compensation or appropriate insurance if animals are destroyed. Those currently implementing community restrictions to prevent the spread of ASF should be mindful that the fight against the disease will never end unless the government has completely regained the people’s trust. And it seems to be, still, a long and winding road.