The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Monday stressed that there is no need to declare a state of calamity at the national level despite a possible outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) in some areas of Batangas as proactive measures are in place.

According to Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel, the ASF incidents are localized and while it is spreading, it is not as fast and people are aware of the problem.

He added that many facilities have biosecurity, thus declaring lockdowns on ASF-affected areas farm-based.

The Agriculture chief said that currently, eight towns in Batangas are affected by ASF and they asked to declare a state of calamity to implement the Quick Response Fund for indemnification.

Checkpoints are in place to control the release of hogs from ASF-infected areas, he added.

Last week, the municipal agricultural office in Calatagan reported positive cases of ASF from the barangays of Balibago, Talisay, Carretunan, Quilitisan, Gulod, Balitoc, Lucsuhin, and Sambungan.

With this, the slaughtering and releasing of pigs -- dead or alive -- from the mentioned areas were temporarily prohibited.

The DA said that it will have an emergency procurement of ASF vaccines, and at least 10,000 doses are estimated to be needed to address the outbreak.