MANILA – The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Thursday said the importation of live cattle and buffalo from Japan is temporarily banned.
This is amid the reported outbreak of Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) in Japan, particularly in Maebaru, Fukuoka on November 15.
LSD is a viral disease affecting cattle, which can lead to severe complications or death, with symptoms including fever, nodules on the skin and internal organs, significant weight loss, swollen lymph nodes, and fluid accumulation under the skin.
In a statement, DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the move is necessary to “protect the local cattle and water buffalo populations from the LSD virus.”
Besides live cattle and buffalo, its products and by-products are also temporarily banned including unpasteurized milk and milk products, embryos, skin, and semen used for artificial insemination.
Exempted from the ban are “skeletal muscle meat, casings, gelatin and collagen, tallow, hooves and horns, blood meal and flour, bovine and water buffalo bones and hides, and pasteurized milk,” provided they meet the Philippine import and health standards. (PNA)