- GILBERT BAYORAN
As African swine fever (ASF) cases spread in the three provinces of Western Visayas, Negros Occidental remains free of the deadly animal disease, Provincial Veterinarian, Dr. Placeda Lemana, said Wednesday.
The province of Capiz recently recorded ASF cases, after Iloilo and Guimaras, as confirmed by the Department of Agriculture.
The ASF virus causes a hemorrhagic fever with high mortality rates in pigs.
Ever since, Lemana said they have tightened security against the entry of ASF to Negros Occidental, by strictly monitoring all ports of entries and airports in the province.
“We are advising the public not to bring pork products from provinces in Panay, Guimaras, Luzon, Mindanao, and Leyte,” the PVO chief said.
From January to Feb. 25 this year, the PVO said it seized 1,307 kilos of assorted pork related products from ASF-hit areas at the Bredco and Banago ports in Bacolod, as well as the San Carlos City port, Bacolod-Silay Airport, and the animal quarantine checkpoint in Kabankalan City, with a market value of P59,000.
Because of the massive ASF information drive, Lemana said that many people are now aware that the transport of live pigs and pork-related products from ASF-hit areas to Negros Occidental is strictly prohibited.
The provincial government of Negros Occidental and the highly-urbanized Bacolod City also banned the entry of live pigs and pork products from neighboring Panay and Guimaras Islands.
Negros Occidental, which has a P6-billion hog industry, has been identified as a “green zone” or an ASF-free province by the DA.
The provincial government also imposed a total ban on the entry of live birds and poultry products, such as meat and eggs from areas affected by the highly-pathogenic avian influenza or bird flu, including Luzon, Mindanao, and the neighboring islands of Panay and Guimaras.
The PVO also reported that it has confiscated P2.1 million worth of poultry-related products from bird flu-hit areas, since the start of this year until Feb. 25./GB
