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Entry of Bacolod pigs, pork to NegOcc LGUs restricted

The entry of pigs and pork products from Bacolod City, where African Swine Fever (ASF) has been detected, to Negros Occidental towns and cities is now restricted.

Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez announced on Friday that two pigs in Barangay Taculing, Bacolod, tested positive for ASF.

The Negros Occidental provincial government following the announcement of Benitez and in compliance with the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Animal Industry (DA-BAI) protocols is enforcing the required restrictions, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said on Sunday. May 28.

The movement of live hogs, boar semen, raw meat, and locally processed meat, including lechons and chorizo, regardless of their source, from Bacolod to Negros Occidental towns and cities are now restricted, he said.

Exempted are hogs from commercial farms with Certificates of Free Status for ASF, Diaz said.

Allowed are imported meat, but the meat vans carrying the supply must be accredited by the National Meat Inspection Service and must be registered with the Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) as a meat handler/trader, Diaz said.

Processed pork products made from imported meat from Bacolod to Negros Occidental are also allowed but must have a Certificate of Meat Inspection, Certificate of Product Registration, License to Operate from the Food and Drug Administration and meat handler’s must have identification cards from the PVO.

There will also be a mandatory disinfection of all incoming trucks, refrigerated container vans, and other vehicles from Bacolod City travelling to Negros Occidental towns and cities, he said.

As of Sunday no ASF cases had been detected in Negros Occidental.

The Negros Occidental provincial government released an ASF Zoning Map for areas surrounding Bacolod City, which has been tagged as a red infected zone.

Neighboring Bago City, Murcia and Talisay City have been placed under the pink buffer zone, Pulupandan, Valladolid, La Carlota City, Salvador Benedicto, Silay City and EB Magalona – yellow surveillance zone, and the rest of the province under the green ASF free zone.

Hogs from red zones can move to other red zones, Diaz said.

The Sangguniang Panlalawigan needs to have adequate data before it can declare a state of calamity in Negros Occidental amid its rising hog deaths, Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer said on Sunday.

Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson is on top of the situation, and border control and biosecurity measures are already in place in Negros Occidental, he said.

So far there is no official declaration that there are ASF cases in Negros Occidental, Ferrer said.

Only the Bureau of Animal Industry can make such declaration based on test results of blood samples from dead hogs, he said.

“We need to have the correct data to guide our decisions,” the vice governor said.

Ferrer, who was acting governor last week, barred the entry of pigs and pork products from Negros Oriental, after hogs tested positive for ASF in Dauin town.

The pig deaths from various diseases hit 6,379 in Negros Occidental on Friday, causing P75,503,775 in losses, the PVO reported.

The fatalities represent 5.88 percent of Negros Occidental’s 108,528 hog population.

The governor said as of Friday the main cause of the pig deaths in the province was hog cholera.The hog deaths are affecting the food security in Negros Occidental, Ferrer admitted.

He said the provincial government will discuss with hog raisers what assistance can be given.*

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