ASF-hit barangays rise to 71

MANILA, Philippines — The number of barangays with active cases of African swine fever (ASF) rose to 71 as of Oct. 7, the Department of Agriculture (DA) reported yesterday.

The figure is slightly higher than the 69 barangays that the DA recorded at the end of September.

The Ilocos region still has the highest number of villages affected by ASF.

The province of Ilocos Sur accounted for more than half of the villages with active ASF cases at 43, while its neighbor Ilocos Norte recorded 10.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar said there were 31 cities and municipalities that logged ASF cases.

Four barangays each in Nueva Vizcaya and Surigao del Sur recorded ASF cases, while Batangas and Ifugao have two each.

The provinces of Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Cavite, Laguna and Surigao del Norte have one barangay each with ASF cases.

Data from the DA showed that 494 cities and municipalities in the country reported no ASF infections in the past 90 days.

Although the number of ASF-affected villages increased recently, Dar said the figure was still much lower than the 3,239 barangays that were recorded since the disease entered the country in August 2019.