BAGUIO CITY – The Regional Advisory Committee for Animal Disease Control and Emergency (RAC-ADCE) for the Cordillera convened for their first regular technical meeting last February 15, at the DA Conference Hall.
Composed of the government sector, provincial and city veterinarians, academe, and private livestock dealers, the committee is tasked to give advice and recommendations to Sec. Manny Piñol on the prevention, control, and eradication of economically important diseases including those transmissible to humans.
RAC-ADCE will be assisting the agriculture department secretary in the formulation of policies related to the livestock and poultry industry in accordance with Special Order No. 332, series of 2012.
The committee, with twenty-four members, will be holding quarterly meetings to discuss the current situation in their locations, reporting on such matters as fatalities and current diseases for monitoring.
Dr. Marietta Amatorio, Benguet State University–College of Veterinary Medicine Dean, leads the meeting as the chairperson. Each committee member presented statistics on the economically important diseases and rabies in their location for 2016 and the problems they encountered.
Submissions of animal samples for laboratory testing of rabies are encouraged to balance out the numbers for comparison nationally.
Testing fees at the Regional Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratories are waived until CY2020.
The set-up of checkpoints in the region was raised too as the Cordillera region is different from other areas as it does not have airports and seaports. Strict implementation should be done since the Cordilleras has the biggest consumed animal and meat products in the country.
Census of dogs, standardization of form for data submission, disease profiling, and responsible pet ownership are some of the resolutions made during the meeting.
By Ayra Galanza
