• CHERYL G. CRUZ
The highly-urbanized Bacolod City and the town of San Enrique in Negros Occidental are still under the red zone, or areas that remain affected by the African swine fever (ASF), a contagious viral disease of pigs, in the province.
Escalante City, tagged under the red zone since last year with Bacolod, has been upgraded to pink, or buffer zone, together with most of the cities and towns in the province, including Binalbagan, Cadiz, Calatrava, E. B. Magalona, Hinigaran, Ilog, Isabela, Kabankalan, La Carlota City, La Castellana, Manapla, Moises Padilla, Murcia, Pontevedra, Pulupandan, San Carlos, Silay, Talisay, Toboso, Valladolid, Victorias, and Don Salvador Benedicto.
Tagged under yellow, or surveillance zone, are Bago, Candoni, Cauayan, Himamaylan, Hinoba-an, and Sagay, while Sipalay is still the lone area in the province under the light green, or protected zone, per the latest ASF status released by the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), as of April 15.
The BAI had explained that areas under the yellow zone are places where ASF has not been detected, but are next to the pink zone. The latter’s category means that ASF is not present but these areas are next to an infected zone.
In Negros Oriental, 14 towns and cities remain under the infected zone, including Amlan, Bacong, Basay, Bayawan, Bindoy, Dauin, Dumaguete, Manjuyod, Pamplona, Siaton, Sibulan, Tanjay, Valencia, and Zamboanguita.
Jimalalud and La Libertad are under the surveillance zone, with the rest categorized as pink.
The whole island of Siquijor, on the other hand, is ASF-free, the BAI said.
It added that, all over the country, 475 towns and cities have been upgraded to buffer zone from red, and 93 to yellow from pink. Around 500, meanwhile, are still ASF-affected. | CGC
