The Department of Agriculture in the Negros Island Region is creating a regional task force to ensure the synchronized implementation of protocols against the African Swine Fever (ASF), Regional Director Jose Albert Barrogo said Friday.
The regional management committee will meet next week to establish the ASF Regional Task Force, he said.
ASF cases have been reported in both Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental, Barrogo said.
Siquijor, which currently has no reported cases, has closed its borders to meat products.
Barrogo explained that while the provincial governments already have their own ASF task forces, a regional body is necessary to ensure coordinated management. Currently, different local government units (LGUs) are implementing varying protocols, he said.
In Negros Occidental, Barrogo said Bacolod and San Enrique have ASF cases. Silay also recorded a case, but it occurred in a secluded area, and subsequent tests on pigs in the surrounding areas came back negative, he said.
Meanwhile, in Negros Oriental, Governor Chaco Sagarbarria confirmed that there are positive ASF cases in La Libertad.
ASF is a highly contagious and lethal viral disease affecting pigs. It does not threaten human health and cannot be transmitted from pigs to humans, but it is a major crisis for the agricultural sector.*
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