Piglet deaths in Bulacan still baffle veterinarians

ANGELES CITY — Veterinary experts seem to be back to square one despite the discovery of at least four diseases killing piglets in Bulacan.

This, amid the possibility that viruses causing them could have mutated into yet unknown strains.

Government veterinarians said partial quarantine has been enforced in five Bulacan towns where a significant number of piglets have died this year.

Experts from the Philippine College of Swine Practitioners (PCSP) have identified four diseases hounding piggeries in the province.

Dr. Divino Catbagan, officer-in-charge of the Bureau of Animal Industry, told The STAR that aside from the highly contagious porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) earlier identified as the cause of the growing piglet mortality, further studies also found cases of hog cholera, rotavirus, and post-weaning wasting disease (PWWD) in the affected farms.

Last April, government veterinarians suspected only PED, noting that the cases in Bulacan were the first in the country. There is no known cure for PED, they said.

While the four diseases have been identified, Dr. Jose Carillo, chief of the provincial veterinary disease prevention and regulatory division, said some of the viruses causing them could have mutated into unknown strains.

Catbagan said no vaccination has been recommended yet pending the results of PCSP studies. "We might have the results in two weeks," he said.

Carillo could not immediately cite figures, but admitted that more deaths are being reported in piggeries in Pandi, Sta. Maria, and Marilao. 

He said newly born piglets seem to be more susceptible to the diseases up to the weaning period or about 30 to 40 days after birth.  

Earlier, Dr. Felipe Bartolome, acting provincial veterinarian, said more piglet deaths were reported in San Jose, Baliuag, and Pulilan towns and described the diseases as being "more virulent." 

Catbagan, however, clarified that experts have confirmed only two PED cases, while the rest of the piglet deaths were attributed to hog cholera, rotavirus, and PWWD. 

Still, he said he found the piglet mortality rate to be rather unusual.

In the meantime, Catbagan said piggery owners have put preventive measures in place, such as feeding the swines with the processed intestines of dead piglets so they could develop immunity to the diseases.

Carillo said partial quarantine and strict "bio-security" measures are now being enforced in the affected areas.

Catbagan said the affected piggeries have been prohibited from transporting their animals without proper clearances.

Piggery workers were also required to take a shower or disinfect themselves before entering or leaving the affected farms. "Even vehicles have to be washed before and after," he said.

Carillo expressed fear that if the diseases spread in Bulacan, there could be a pork shortage in Metro Manila since the province supplies about 60 percent of the daily pork supply — or about 3,000 hogs — of the metropolis.