Reducing the Risk of FMD Spread by Investing on Improving Conditions of Local Sale Yards in the Philippines Benigno, C.C.1, Santos, I.J.2, and Dionisio, G.C.3 1 FAO Regional Office, Bangkok, Thailand 2 U.P. Lady Vets Foundation, Inc., Quezon City, Philippines 3 Municipal Agricultural Office, Guiguinto, Bulacan, Philippines Abstract One of the risk factors to FMD spread in the Philippines is attributed to sale yards where traders bring their animals for sale to other traders. These sale yards are gathering points of animals that were sourced from all over the island of Luzon. Since the sale yards are never empty, the conditions of these sale yards are most often unsanitary making it foci of FMD infection. One sale yard in the municipality of Guiguinto, Bulacan, Philippines was known to be a gathering point of pigs coming from as far north of Luzon Island and coming from the south of Luzon. The pigs that traders bring to the sale yard are apparently healthy. The pigs stay at the sale yard until a buyer is found. Due to its unhygienic conditions, the pigs usually get FMD within 24 hours and buyers would opt for this as this gives a cheaper price and earns them substantial profit when they sell the meat. Realizing that this sale yard is a focus of FMD infection, the Philippine National FMD Task Force upgraded the facilities and improved its operations. The disease situation then improved and the earnings from the sale yard services enabled the municipal government to hire people of its own thus generating income for the owner and the municipality. Similar sale yards are now run by private individuals monitored by the government. The disease picture has since then improved. Introduction During the FMD epidemic that hit the Philippines in 1995, Bulacan was one of the provinces in Central Luzon that was badly affected. The bulk shipment of slaughter pigs from Central Luzon being brought to the different provinces in the country originate mostly from Bulacan and Nueva Ecija since these provinces produce the highest population of pigs in backyard operations (BAS, 2006). Tracing the epidemiological history of FMD outbreaks in the country, it was evident that simultaneous outbreaks in municipalities occur where holding pens of livestock traders were located and this easily spread to other towns due to the movement of livestock. The most important factor that caused the rapid spread seen in the 1995 epidemic was the clandestine movement of live infected animals. Investigations of index cases in each province revealed that infection was brought in by livestock traders. Bulacan being one of the main trading centers for livestock in Central Luzon was also affected by the conditions in the sale yards where livestock traders conduct their business. One such sale yard is located in Pritil, in the municipality of Guiguinto, Bulacan. FMD Incidence in Guiguinto In 1997, a total of 27 FMD outbreaks was reported in Guiguinto with 12 of these outbreaks traced to the sale yard. After the 1998 improvements made to the Guiguinto sale yard, there was a significant, steady decline in the number of outbreaks with only 9 outbreaks reported in 1999 (FMD IMS, 2006). Table 1 FMD Incidence in Guiguinto Traced to Sale Yard 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 March FMD 27 24 9 6 8 3 1 0 1 0 Incidence Traced to 12 7 5 5 4 0 1 0 0 0 Sale Yard Proceedings of the 11th International Symposium on Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics, 2006 Available at www.sciquest.org.nz Investment on Sale Yard With the cost of improvement at PHP165,000.00 (USD3,300.00) and funded by the AusAID FAO FMD Control and Eradication Project in 1998, one of the 3 sale yards in Guiguinto was upgraded. The improvements consisted of concreting of the pavement and assigning 2 personnel to clean and disinfect the sale yard, holding pens and weighing scales on a daily basis. The personnel were paid a daily rate of PHP250 (USD5.00) which amounted to PHP180,000 (USD3,600.00) annually. The concreted pavement provided a clean, hygienic area where transport vehicles including the tires were cleaned and disinfected. The vehicles were used as trailers where the pigs are loaded. Aside from performing the task of disinfectors, the 2 personnel served as a member of the Compliance Monitoring Team who acted as the monitoring eye of the Municipal Agricultural Office for unscrupulous traders who insisted on trading infected pigs. At the time, there were about 200 pigs weighed daily and 70% of the volume of trade in Guiguinto was handled by this particular sale yard. At present, there are 4 existing weighing scales/sale yards operating in Guiguinto, Bulacan. The other sale yards were improved by the owners themselves when they realized the economic benefit of having a similar improved facility. Livestock traders preferred the services rendered by the first sale yard. The other sale yards also hired personnel to perform regular cleaning and disinfection of the premises and vehicles because they realized that with clean and disinfected holding pens, the FMD incidence is prevented even with overstaying pigs. Photo 1 Cleaning and Disinfection of Holding Pen The operations of the 4 sale yards are now regulated by the Municipal Government of Guiguinto with the passage of a tax revenue ordinance wherein Veterinary Health Certificates and Shipping Permits for all livestock passing through the Guiguinto sale yards are required. The issuance of the Veterinary Health Certificate became a Municipal Ordinance. The Office of the Municipal Veterinarian charges a PHP10.00 (USD0.20) per head inspection fee which is also known as the Veterinary Health Certificate. Two deputized Livestock Inspectors appointed by the Municipal Agriculture Office conduct regulatory functions through inspection of livestock being transported and verification of all accompanying documents. Before leaving the sale yard, the livestock traders have adopted the habit of having all their transport vehicles cleaned and disinfected for a fee. Income Generated vis-à-vis FMD Incidence For the municipal government, the Municipal Ordinance of securing a Veterinary Health Certificate for all livestock being transported became an income-generating scheme. To illustrate, at PHP10 (USD0.20) per head inspection fee for 300 hogs per day, a daily income of PHP3,000.00 (USD60.00) per day is generated which is equivalent to PHP90,000.00 (USD1,801.00) monthly income or a total of PHP1.08 Million (USD21,600.00) annual income. The income generated from the inspection fee and issuance of the Veterinary Health Certificates is divided into 50% for the municipal treasury and the other 50% to the barangay treasury. Proceedings of the 11th International Symposium on Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics, 2006 Available at www.sciquest.org.nz For the private sector or owners operating the sale yard, the improved facility as well as the cleaning and disinfection activity and holding pens brought in additional revenues due to increased trade. The owner/operator of the sale yard charges PHP10.00 (USD0.20) per head for weighing; cleaning and disinfection fee for transport vehicles at PHP20.00 (USD0.40) per vehicle and if the livestock stays in the holding pens, an additional PHP10.00 (USD0.20) per head is charged for holding purposes. Table 2 Income Generated by Sale Yard for the Private Sector Type of Fee Rate per Head of Daily Income Monthly Income Annual Income Livestock Weighing Fee PHP10.00 PHP3,000.00 PHP90,000.00 PHP1,080,000.00 (USD0.20) for (USD60.00) (USD1,801.00) (USD21,600.00) average 300 pigs per day Cleaning & PHP20.00 PHP400.00 PHP12,000.00 PHP144,000.00 Disinfection Fee (USD0.40) per (USD8.00) (USD240.00) (USD2,880.00) vehicle for average of 20 transport vehicles per day Holding Fee PHP10.00 PHP1,000.00 PHP30,000.00 PHP360,000.00 (USD0.20) for (USD20.00) (USD600.00) (USD7,200.00) average of 100 pigs staying overnight At current prices, a modest weighing scale/sale yard facility could be established at a cost of PHP300,000.00 (USD6,000.00) provided the owner already has the existing land area. Conclusion Prior to the 1998 improvement to the sale yard in Guiguinto, livestock traders suffer revenue losses as their pigs are condemned and confiscated when found to be infected with FMD while being held at the sale yard. With the clean and disinfected sale yards, vehicles and personnel monitoring the activities in the sale yards, the FMD incidence traced to outbreaks in the sale yards dramatically decreased from its peak incidence in 1997 to almost zero incidence in March 2006. The almost zero incidence of FMD for 2006 has proven that improving the sale yard facility greatly reduces the risk of FMD spread among livestock traders. The livestock traders realized that with the improvements made to the sale yards, the provision of clean and safe holding pens and regular cleaning and disinfection of transport vehicles greatly reduce the possibility of harbouring and transmitting the FMD virus in the sale yards. References Bureau of Agricultural Statistics, Department of Agriculture, www.bas.gov.ph/stats/selected/tabs21.pdf Foot and Mouth Disease Handbook for Field Officers 5th Edition (2002), Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Animal Industry, Quezon City, Philippines FMD Information Management System as a Disease Surveillance Tool in the FMD Control and Eradication Program in the Philippines, 2006, National FMD Task Force, Bureau of Animal Industry, Department of Agriculture Proceedings of the 11th International Symposium on Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics, 2006 Available at www.sciquest.org.nz.