• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Three local government units in Negros Occidental are still classified as red zones in African swine fever (ASF) classification, according to the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Plant Industry.
As of Aug. 14, still listed under red zone or infected zone are Bacolod City, Escalante City and Valladolid.
Those transitioning to the pink zone (buffer zone) from red zone are the cities of Victorias, Silay, San Carlos and Kabankalan as well as the municipalities of Hinigaran, La Castellana and Pulupandan.
The pink zone designates areas where ASF has not been detected but are immediately adjacent to confirmed infected areas (red zone).
In the red zone, strict prohibitions are enforced against the movement of live pigs, pork and pork products (including fresh/frozen pork and uncooked processed pork products, with the exception of cooked and canned processed pork products) as well as swine genetic materials to prevent the spread of ASF.
Other LGUs under the pink zone are the cities of Bago, Cadiz, La Carlota, Silay and Talisay, and the municipalities of Binalbagan, Calatrava, E.B. Magalona, Hinigaran, Ilog, Isabela, Manapla, Moises Padilla, Murcia and Pontevedra.
Those included in the yellow zone are Candoni, Cauayan, San Enrique, Hinobaan Sagay City, Hinobaan and Himamaylan City while Sipalay City belongs to light green status.
A yellow zone covers areas where ASF is not detected and is adjacent to the pink zone while Sipalay City is ASF free, according to the BAI report.
Negros Occidental still bans the entry of hogs and pork-related products from Bacolod City, Panay, Guimaras, Negros Oriental, Cebu, Luzon and Mindanao provinces because of ASF threats.
The Provincial ASF Task Force further tightened its monitoring in seaports and coastlines of Negros Occidental, after intercepting the undocumented delivery of hogs in Escalante City and Calatrava town on Aug. 12 and 13, respectively.
Provincial Veterinarian Placeda Lemana said that they are not taking chances, especially now that Negros Occidental is on the third phase of recovery efforts in hog repopulation.
Last year, Negros Occidental logged almost 18,000 hog mortalities in about 20 local government units, mainly due to hog cholera and ASF. | GB
