The Ministry of Agriculture, headed by Limber Cruz Lopez, is spending hundreds of millions in its fight against the invasive African Swine Flu that has affected small hog farming, mostly in Sanchez Ramirez province. According to statements made at the most recent press conference, Cruz Lopez said that the ministry will buy, sacrifice, process, pack and freeze about 20,000 healthy pigs as part of the protocols to avoid a more extensive outbreak. The meat will be stored at -19C at many of the cold storage facilities in the country.
Some 40 years ago, the country saw its first major outbreak of swine flu. At the time, the authorities ordered the slaughter of every single pig in the entire nation. After this the livestock was replenished.
Cruz Lopez says that the disease has three major issues: animal health and sanitation, economic issues, and social aspects. There is a popular local saying that pigs are the “savings bank of the poor.”
The government has spent RD$70 million in payment at fair market value for the pigs already sacrificed because they were either sick or in close contact with sick animals and another RD$220 million on the program to sacrifice the 20,000 healthy animals. Pork producers, large and small, are offered financial support and opportunities to explore other livestock opportunities, and the pledging process for the restocking of new animals has already begun.
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Listin Diario
23 August 2021