DA confident RP is free from Ebola
ROXAS CITY – To protect the name of the Philippines as a "responsible exporter," agriculture officials will test local hogs from Mindanao.
Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap disclosed that said test will determine the possible presence of the Ebola Reston virus on pork and pork products from local hogs in Mindanao.
Yap said that the move is part of the government's initiative to protect the name of the country as a responsible exporter as well as precautionary measure as required by the global animal health standards.
He is confident that all hogs in South Cotabato and General Santos City that are sources of pork and pork products set for export will test negative for the virus, which was found in a few hogs in two swine farms in Luzon.
Yap also believed that Visayas and Mindanao were not affected at all because since 1995, we have stopped moving animals from Luzon to Mindanao and to the Visayas.
Officials of the DA and Department of Health (DOH) along with international health institutions have pointed out that the Reston virus "does not pose a significant public health risk."
They explained that said particular strain of the Ebola virus has been shown in the past to be "non-pathogenic," which means it is not harmful to humans.
Earlier, Yap suspended all planned pork shipments abroad upon DA and DOH first report to the public about the presence of Ebola virus as part of the government's precautionary measures to prevent the spread of said virus.
Yap revealed that the DA and DOH would seek assistance from international health agencies such as the World Health Organization (WHO) in eradicating the virus, which resurfaced after it was discovered 19 years ago among macaques or monkeys that the Laguna-based Ferlite Farms had been exporting to the Hazelton Research Product Laboratories in Reston , Virginia , USA. (PIA/Jemin B. Guillermo)