• CHERYL G. CRUZ
The highly-urbanized Bacolod, cities of Escalante, Kabankalan, San Carlos, Silay, and Victorias, and the towns of Hinigaran, La Castellana, and Valladolid, in Negros Occidental remained under the red category, or ASF-infected zone, the DA-Bureau of Animal Industry said.
The town of Pulupandan, which was earlier categorized under the red zone, was upgraded to pink, or buffer zone, along with 408 other LGUs nationwide, as of the Feb. 23 ASF zoning update released by the National ASF Prevention and Control Program last week.
There are 16 other Negros Occidental LGUs under the pink zone, including the cities of Bago and Talisay, and the town of Murcia, which have established ASF border checkpoints, as per Executive Order 24-07 of Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson.
The EO bans the entry of live pigs and pork products from areas hit by the African swine fever, including Bacolod, Panay and Guimaras inlands, Negros Oriental, Luzon, Mindanao, Region 8, Province of Cebu, Camotes and Bantayan islands, and countries affected with the dreaded swine disease.
The Department of Agriculture said an ASF buffer zone includes municipalities or cities where ASF is not detected “but demarcated immediately around the red zone…and aimed at preventing and managing a spillover of cases from the infected area through risk mitigation measures, such as biosecurity and surveillance”.
Candoni, Cauayan, Himamaylan, Hinoba-an, and San Enrique are in the yellow, or surveillance zone, or areas where ASF is not detected and adjacent to the buffer zone.
Sipalay City is the lone LGU in the province categorized as light green, or protected zone, the DA-BAI said.
Lacson, in his EO dated Feb. 26, said that majority of the cities and municipalities in Negros Occidental are classified as pink to light green zones, and are now ready for hog repopulation” so there is need for the strict “implementation of biosecurity measures to prevent the recurrence of transboundary swine diseases”.
The Provincial Veterinary Office said that it has been conducting random inspection of stores and meat establishments provincewide, and met with LGU representatives on Lacson’s EO.
Section 5 of the EO directs local chief executives to strengthen biosafety, hygiene, and sanitation standards in slaughterhouses, livestock auction markets, and piggery farms in their areas of jurisdiction. | CGC
