Tabuk City, Kalinga – Kalinga provincial government has lifted the entry ban on carabaos coming from Cagayan, subject to strict protocols.
On December 28 last year, the province led by Governor James Edduba imposed a temporary ban due to positive cases of human and animal anthrax recorded in Calassitan, Santo Niño, Cagayan.
Back then, four anthrax carrier buffaloes died, of which, some were butchered and sold as meat to residents. A total of 73 people were exposed to the two slaughtered carabaos and 22 among them showed signs of cutaneous lesions or skin wounds (Human Anthrax), said the Department of Health.
Three months after the presence of anthrax cases in the area, no new cases were reported from the same province.
Laboratory tests on the suspected anthrax cases in Cagayan towns conducted by the Regional Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (RADDL) yielded negative results for Bacillus anthracis, the bacteria that causes anthrax thus, the issuance of Executive Order No. 2023-31 dated April 3, lifting the temporary ban.
The order, however, provides guidelines that shall be adopted by shippers “to ensure the continued protection of public health from the hazards of meat-borne diseases from carabaos.”
Strictly, no animal shall be accepted in Kalinga province without presenting the documents as follows: Certification with official receipt from the barangay where the animal came from; Certification of Ownership of carabao and Certificate of Transfer of Ownership of carabao, if the vendor is not the original owner; and Veterinary/Animal Health Certificate and Shipping Permit, if an animal came from another province.
LISTEN TO STATION 1 RADIO: CLICK ME
.png)
