• CHERYL G. CRUZ
The highly-urbanized Bacolod and 16 other cities and towns in the Negros Island Region remain under the red zone, or areas affected by the dreaded African swine fever, the DA-Bureau of Animal Industry said.
In its latest ASF zoning status, as of Nov. 22 and made public Dec. 3, the cities of Bago and Escalante in Negros Occidental, and that of Dumaguete, Bayawan, and Tanjay in Negros Oriental, have the same category as Bacolod.
The towns of Amlan, Bacong, Basay, Bindoy, Dauin, Manjuyod, Pamplona, Siaton, Sibulan, Valencia, and Zamboanguita, all in Negros Oriental, are also under the red zone.
Sipalay continues to be the lone city in NIR under the protected zone, or light green category, while the whole island of Siquijor continues to be ASF-free, with all of its six towns – Enrique Villanueva, Larena, Lazi, Maria, San Juan, and Siquijor – under the dark green zone, the DA-BAI said.
Candoni, Cauayan, Himamaylan, Hinoba-an, Sagay City, and San Enrique, as well as Jimalalud and La Libertad are under the surveillance, or yellow zone, with the rest categorized as pink, or buffer zone.
A yellow zone covers areas where ASF has not been detected, but are adjacent to the pink zone, the DA-BAI earlier said, adding that those under the buffer zone means that ASF is not present but these areas are next to an infected zone.
The DA, in a move to further protect the swine industry from the impact of ASF, also amended previous directives on the controlled use of the ASF vaccine, to streamline procedures and expand the coverage to accelerate the nationwide vaccination program.
“These amendments are designed to speed up the rollout of the ASF vaccination campaign in key areas, particularly barangays with no active ASF cases for at least 40 days, or those with negative ASF surveillance results in red and pink zones,” the BAI said in a statement, adding the latest directive also eases the requirements for farms that want to participate in the vaccination program. | CGC
