CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDY

The case of African Swine Fever (ASF) in Asia has been unprecedented with
outbreaks occurring around many countries, significantly impacting animal health
and welfare, the agricultural economy and food security (Costard et al., 2009; FAO,
2020; Tian and von Cramon-Taubadel, 2020). While ASF does not pose direct risk
to human health, its highly contagious and fatal characteristics affecting both young
or old, and domestic and the wild boar population could lead to severe devastation
of the pig industry (Costard et al., 2009; Costard et al., 2013). African Swine Fever
has ravaged the swine industry of both the Western (1960–1995) and Eastern
Europe (2007–2018) (Cwynar et al., 2019; Lu et al., 2020), and has caused more
than a million pig deaths in
China since severe outbreaks occurred in 2018, signalling fear and unprecedented
spread among other countries in Asia (Estienne, 2019). Inevitably enough, many
Asian countries have been affected since, including Mongolia in January, Vietnam in
February, Cambodia in April, North Korea in May, Laos in June, Myanmar in August,
and South Korea in September, among others including the Philippines as the 9th
country affected (Pig Progress, 2019; Estienne, 2019; FAO, 2020; Kim et al., 2020;
Parrocha,2020). Record breaking increase in the number of countries affected has
continued to occur since 2005 to 2018 (Rozstalnyy and Plavšić, 2019). Since the
ASF DNA virus is complex being unusually related to other viruses, no effective
vaccine has yet been developed (Costard et al., 2013), thus calling for a
comprehensive approach to contain and control its impact.
Due to the potential catastrophic impact of ASF on the country’s swine industry, the
President of the Philippines signed Executive Order No. 105 in February 21, 2020
“creating a national task force to prevent the entry of animal-borne diseases, contain
and control the transmission thereof, and address issues relating thereto”, and
mandating the “Department of Agriculture, through the Bureau of animal Industry to
control and eradicate dangerous communicable diseases of domestic animals”
(Offical Gazette, 2020). Towards the end of 2020, The Philippines has seen several
thousands of deaths and/or mass culling of pigs to control the spread of ASF
particularly in Luzon in the north but has also affected Mindanao in the southern part
of the country (Parrocha, 2020). The Philippines is among the top pork producers
worldwide with a close to ₱200 billion pig industry of about 12.7M pigs (DOST-
PCAARRD, 2016; PSA, 2020). Of this about 65% is considered backyard or those
pigs normally raised by smallholder farmers with seemingly limited access to feed
supply, equipment, and facilities, and veterinary health resources. The practice of
swill feeding is not uncommon given the several and widely available sources
including kitchen leftovers, hotels, restaurants, and the like.
The Eastern Visayas Region (Region VIII) in central Philippines where this study
was conducted is still free of ASF but the risk is high considering the volume of pigs
that arrive in this region both coming from Luzon (north) and Mindanao (south) pig
producers. Thus, the Department of Agriculture and authorities in the region have
prompted significant steps to prevent the entry of ASF including the release of
relevant Executive Orders from different provincial governments to monitor and/or
ban entry of live pigs, pork and pork products from different entry/exit points as well
as timely reporting of pigs that manifest ASF-like symptoms (Quirante, 2019). The
Bureau of Animal Industry has also earlier rolled out the “1-7-10 Protocol” for culling
management, surveillance, and reporting, as well as the BABES campaign which
stands for: Ban pork imports from confirmed ASF-affected countries; Avoid swill
feeding; Block entry at major seaport and airports, especially international ports;
Educate our people; and lastly, Submit hog blood samples (DA Communications
Group 2019; Meniano, 2019). Region VIII is a potential market from among large pig
producers outside of the region considering its low pig inventory in the country
(3.2%;PSA, 2019). The demand for pork in the Province of Leyte is substantially
favourable as Leyte accounts for most slaughtered pigs within the region (PSA,
2018).
Preventing further spread of ASF from the initially affected areas appears to be the
core strategy to contain the economic losses caused by ASF (GAIN, 2019). The
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) through the Agriculture and Consumer
Protection Department emphasizes early reaction, detection and notification
including the application of strict biosecurity measures.This also includes improved
husbandry practices, disinfection and good surveillance and monitoring of live pigs
being transported (FAO, 2020). Stringent compliance with biosecurity measures and
cooperation with government initiatives are key strategies to prevent introduction
and contain the impact of ASF. The aim of this study was to determine and
understand the current situation, readiness and examine the biosecurity practices of
backyard pig farmers within the City of Baybay, Leyte, Philippines. Results of this
study could influence decision makers both as pig farm owners and government
officials in facing the challenges posed by disease outbreaks.
 CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

Method of Research

Location of the study and sampling procedures

The study was conducted between September 2019 to February 2020 about a year
after the significant outbreak of ASF occurred in the country. There are only a few
commercial pig farms making backyard or smallholder type of pig production a major
livestock activity covering about 11,000 pig population. Following recommended
sampling procedures, at least 350 pig farmers were required at 95% level of
confidence and 5% margin of error after considering about 4,100 current backyard
pig raisers (The Research Advisors 2006; Fosgate, 2009; Andico and Peña, 2019).
The farmer respondents were randomly selected and proportionally allocated per
barangay from a given population of backyard pig raisers provided by the local
agriculture office.

Method of Collecting Data

A systematic questionnaire was constructed and modified following previous

research by Andico and Peña (2019) including earlier studies on similar topic
(Ribbens et al., 2008; Alawneh et al., 2014) (Appendix). Among the questions
included were the pig farmers’ socio-demographic information, pig production and
health management, biosecurity practices, and farmers’ knowledge of ASF. The
questionnaire was constructed in English and translated into the local dialect for
ease and convenience during the one-on-one interview at the respective residence
of the farmer respondents with prior verbal consent. Any information that has the
potential to identify the farmer-respondent was handled with confidentiality and was
not included in the analysis to protect the privacy of respondents. In the event the
first respondent was not available or refused to participate, the next available
backyard pig raiser closest to that respondent was interviewed instead. The actual
interview completed about 15 minutes per respondent.

Sampling Design

The researchers will be using the quota sampling under non-probability

sampling. It will employ an uncontrolled quota sampling in a way that researcher is

free to choose sample group members according to his/her will.

Statistical Treatment of Data

All data were encoded in and analyzed using Microsoft Office Excel with XLSTAT

Basic (version 2020.1.3) installed for multiple correspondence analysis (MCA),

agglomerative hierarchical clustering (AHC) and parallel coordinates plots (PCP),

following procedures found in the XLSTAT Support Center and as previously

described (Andico and Peña, 2019). From the questionnaire, variables relating to

knowledge on ASF, and biosecurity practices were analyzed separately. Descriptive

statistics on farmers’ socio-demographics and pig production general characteristics

were also generated, accordingly.