• CHERYL G. CRUZ
Sixteen cities and towns in Negros Island Region remain under the African swine fever (ASF) red zone, or infected, classification, as per the latest zoning status released by the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) Feb. 10.
The highly-urbanized Bacolod and the City of Escalante in Negros Occidental are still classified under the red zone category, as of the Jan. 31 ASF disease status, the BAI said.
The 14 others are all in Negros Oriental, including the capital Dumaguete City, Amlan, Bacong, Basay, Bayawan, Bindoy, Dauin, Manjuyod, Pamplona, Siaton, Sibulan, Tanjay, Valencia, and Zamboanguita.
Sipalay remains as the lone NIR area under the protected, or light green zone, while the whole of Siquijor, composed of the towns of Enrique Villanueva, Larena, Lazi, Maria, San Juan, and Siquijor, is free of the dreaded swine disease.
Candoni, Cauayan, Himamaylan, Hinoba-an, Sagay City, and San Enrique, all in Negros Occidental, as well as Jimalalud and La Libertad in Negros Oriental, are under the surveillance, or yellow zone category.
The rest of the NIR areas are categorized as buffer, or pink zone.
The Department of Agriculture earlier explained that areas under pink zone are near ASF infected zones, while those in yellow zone are deemed high risk.
The Negros Oriental Provincial Veterinary Office said last month in a Philippine News Agency report that LGUs upgraded from red to pink classification can send hogs outside of the province, and can start the repopulation of hogs under the DA sentineling program. | CGC
