The local government of Naga City in Camarines Sur declared a state of calamity on Tuesday after pigs in 2 of its villages tested positive for African swine fever, an official said.

Some 700 to 1,000 pigs within a kilometer of virus-hit farms in Barangays Pacol and Cararayan need to be culled, said Mayor Nelson Legacion.

The state of calamity declaration will allow the local government to tap emergency funds to give residents P2,000 for every culled pig, for a maximum of 20 heads, he said.

The National Meat Inspection Service gave a provisional permit for a slaughterhouse in neighboring Milaor town to supply pork to Naga to ensure there would be no shortage.

African swine fever causes hemorrhagic fever in pigs that almost always ends in death, but cannot be transmitted to humans and other animals.

Authorities last year confirmed cases of swine fever in some areas in Pampanga, Bulacan, and Metro Manila, where thousands of pigs were culled in a bid to prevent the spread of the disease.

The agriculture department said the local outbreak was caused by smuggled pork products from China.

Pork accounts for 60 percent of meat consumption in the Philippines, where the swine industry is valued at P260 billion, according to the Department of Agriculture.

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With a report from Mae Pulvinar, ABS-CBN News