The supply of chickens and eggs in Negros Occidental will not be affected by a ban imposed by Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson to protect the province’s P8 billion poultry industry from the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).
The governor has banned the entry into Negros Occidental of all live domestic and wild birds, ready to lay pullets, and their products, including table eggs and manure, from Luzon, Mindanao, Panay and Guimaras.
HPAI cases have been detected in Capiz and Iloilo.
Dr. Placeda Lemana, OIC-Provincial Veterinarian, said the 325,000 table eggs from Iloilo and 666,667 from Capiz purchased by Negros Occidental a month can be covered by those produced in the province.
Negros Occidental producers sell about 2.4 million eggs a month to other parts of the country, and local producers have agreed to supply the needs of the province first before exporting, Lemana said.
The province also has adequate supply of chickens because dressed chickens, hatching eggs and day old chicks have not been included in the ban, she said.
Lemana said the biosecurity measures of Negros Occidental are in place versus avian influenza.*