Three of four pig samples collected in Ginatilan, Cebu, have tested positive for African swine fever (ASF), prompting authorities to strengthen quarantine, surveillance and livestock movement controls in the affected areas.
Cebu Provincial Veterinary Office head Dr. Mary Rose Vincoy said the samples were taken from backyard-raised pigs in Barangays Cagsing and Calabawan. The pigs had already died when the laboratory results confirming ASF DNA were released on September 18.
The cases were identified during disease tracing that began after reports of pig deaths in neighboring Malabuyoc. Five samples were initially submitted for testing—four from Ginatilan and one from Malabuyoc. While three Ginatilan samples tested positive, the Malabuyoc sample was negative.
Authorities are now investigating how the virus entered Ginatilan. One line of inquiry involves possible contact between affected pigs and hogs from Negros Oriental. Officials are also checking information that some pig owners had attended a fiesta in Tanjay City and brought cooked pork home.
However, Vincoy stressed that these circumstances have not been established as the source of the infection. Veterinary authorities are continuing disease tracing and back-tracing to identify the possible index case and transmission route.
Barangays Cagsing and Calabawan have been placed under quarantine, with restrictions on the movement of hogs, pork and pork by-products. Ginatilan has also established six checkpoints and chokepoints, including highway and upland routes, to monitor the movement of animals and potentially contaminated materials.
The municipality has separately prohibited the entry of live hogs, pork and pork products from Negros Oriental through its land and sea entry points. The measures come as Cebu continues enforcing a broader provincial ban on hogs and pork products from Negros Island and other ASF-affected areas.
The provincial government has been particularly focused on preventing unauthorized movement of pigs into Cebu. Authorities have intercepted several shipments in recent months, including 104 live hogs seized in Badian in August and a truck carrying 60 hogs without the required veterinary and quarantine documents in Moalboal.
Additional surveillance is also underway across Ginatilan’s 14 barangays. Seven additional samples collected from households and farmers in Cagsing and Calabawan have so far tested negative, although officials said monitoring will continue because the possibility of further spread has not been ruled out.
No culling operation was underway in Ginatilan as of September 24, with the PVO still consolidating its disease investigation and awaiting results from additional samples. Five veterinarians have been deployed to the area to monitor the situation and coordinate containment efforts.
The PVO has collected 2,101 ASF samples from around 2,000 households across Cebu as part of its province-wide surveillance program. Officials are urging hog raisers and residents to immediately report unusual pig deaths rather than slaughtering or disposing of sick animals themselves.
For now, the priority is containment while authorities determine how ASF reached Ginatilan. The possible connection to Negros Oriental remains under investigation, and officials have not confirmed it as the source of the outbreak.
