What should I do about ASF?

What the Department of Agriculture’s circulars say to do about African Swine Fever (ASF): the signs to watch for, who to tell, and what pigs and pork may leave each zone. Each line names the section it comes from.

If your pigs look sick

• A suspected ASF case shows a combination of these signs:
  • High fever (40.5–42 °C), and death in 2 to 10 days on average
  • Red or purplish skin (on white pigs) on the tips of the ears, the tail, the legs, the chest and the belly
  • Vomiting and diarrhoea (sometimes bloody), and discharge from the eyes
  • Severe bleeding from the nose and rectum
  • Nervous signs
  • Up to all the pigs dying as the disease spreads
  • Sudden death without any signs
  (AO 07, s. 2021, Sec. 3.2(a))
• Report unusual pig deaths, or these signs, to your city veterinary office, municipal agriculture or veterinary office, or provincial veterinary office. They start a disease investigation and check the report within 24 hours. (AO 07, s. 2021, Annex 2, items 1–2)
• Not reporting, or reporting late, is a violation. (AO 07, s. 2021, Sec. 9.1.5)
• Pigs may not be moved from a farm with a suspected case until laboratory tests clear it. (AO 07, s. 2021, Annex 2, item 4)

What may leave each zone

• The rules for moving pigs and pork depend on the zone of the city or municipality they leave from. (AC 02, s. 2022, Sec. II)

Find the zone of your city or municipality on the map

In every zone

• Cooked pork products, heated to at least 70 °C for 30 minutes, may be moved across all zones: for example hotdogs, ham, chicharon, lechon and canned pork. (AC 02, s. 2022, Sec. II.A–E, item 3.3.1)
• Pork from pigs that came from another zone and were slaughtered in a red zone may be sold only in red zones and Metro Manila. (AC 02, s. 2022, Sec. II.A.1.2)
• ASF vaccination is allowed in barangays with no active cases for at least 40 days and/or with negative ASF surveillance, in red and pink zones. Only weanling or grower pigs at least four weeks old, healthy or tested negative, are vaccinated. (AC 13, s. 2024, Sec. 2.1, Sec. 2.7)
• These are violations: hiding information, removing sick animals from a quarantine area, and moving animals without the required permits. (AO 07, s. 2021, Sec. 9.1.2–9.1.4)
• Breaking animal quarantine rules is penalised under Republic Act No. 3639. (AC 12, s. 2019, Sec. 3.1)
• Meat from a diseased pig, or from a pig that died other than by slaughter, may not be passed off as a product: violators face the penalties of the Food Safety Act of 2013 (Republic Act No. 10611). (AC 12, s. 2019, Sec. 3.2)

What has happened on vaccination so far: the vaccination timeline.

Sources

• DA Administrative Circular No. 12, s. 2019, 10 December 2019: National Zoning and Movement Plan for the prevention and control of African Swine Fever (FAO’s copy of the DA circular)
• DA Administrative Circular No. 02, s. 2022: Amendment to DA AC 12, s. 2019 regarding the National Zoning and Movement Plan for the prevention and control of ASF
• DA Administrative Circular No. 06, s. 2024, 29 August 2024: Guidelines on the movement protocols for live pigs for purposes of slaughter
• DA Administrative Order No. 07, s. 2021, 8 February 2021: Implementing guidelines for the “Bantay ASF sa Barangay” program
• DA Administrative Circular No. 13, s. 2024, 19 November 2024: Amendment to DA AC 05 and AC 08, s. 2024 on the controlled use of ASF vaccine

These lines were checked against the circulars below on 5 October 2026. DA may have issued newer rules since: your city or municipal veterinary or agriculture office knows the rules in force where you are. The circulars also list the permits and papers each move needs.