Another Iloilo town in ‘red zone’ due to ASF

By John Noel E. Herrera 

The town of Leganes in Iloilo province has been tagged as a “red zone” or infected area after another barangay in the said town has confirmed cases of African Swine Fever (ASF).

Iloilo Provincial Veterinarian Dr. Darel Tabuada confirmed on Tuesday, Nov 8, 2022, that two samples from a backyard farm in Barangay Guinobatan, Leganes tested positive for ASF.

Iloilo Provincial Veterinary Office (IPVO) also said that depopulation was immediately conducted in the infected farm.

On Nov 4, Tabuada said that ASF cases in the province had already reached the towns of Leganes (Brgy MV Hechanova) and Alimodian (Brgy Buhay), but both towns were not included in the “red zone” area during that time as only one barangay from each town had ASF cases.

Based on the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Administrative Order 52, a specific municipality will only be placed under “red zone” if two or more barangays were already affected, while if the case was logged in one area or site, only the area within the 0.5 kilometer radius from the index case will be placed under “red zone” classification.

Aside from Leganes, which now has two barangays with confirmed ASF cases, the towns of Oton (25 affected barangays), and San Miguel (two affected barangays), have already been placed under the ‘red zone’ ASF zoning classification.

Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. also released Executive Order No. 460-B, amending EO No. 460 which implements adjusted quarantine procedures and disease prevention and control measures against ASF.

The EO also stated that the towns of Oton, San Miguel, and Leganes are “hereby declared Red (Infected) Zones and movement of live pigs, pork, pork products (fresh/frozen products and uncooked processed pork products, except cooked and canned processed pork products), and swine genetic materials in and out of the said municipalities shall be prohibited.”

Defensor also said that “intensified containment measures shall be implemented”, which include:

(a.) Intensified monitoring, surveillance, investigation and test and destroy operations, within the municipality by the LATFs;

(b.) Movement of live pigs, pork, pork products (fresh/frozen pork products and uncooked processed pork products, except cooked and canned processed pork products), and swine genetic materials from the Quarantine Area (QA) – area up to one (1) kilometer from the Infected Area (IP), to Outside Quarantine Area (OQA) – area outside the one (1) kilometer radius from the IP, up to the administrative boundary of the city/municipality classified as RED (Infected) Zone, shall be prohibited;

(c.) Public/delivery transport shall not carry/deliver live pigs, pork, pork products (fresh/frozen pork products and uncooked processed pork products, except cooked and canned processed pork products), and swine genetic materials from and into the towns of Oton, San Miguel, and Leganes;

(d.) Conduct of Red Zone Quarantine Checkpoints by the LATFs and the Philippine National Police; and

(e.) Concerned LATFs shall conduct monitoring of transport terminals for enforcement of this provision

To date, ASF cases in the province have already reached five towns so far, which include Oton, San Miguel, Leganes, Alimodian, and Santa Barbara being the latest, as IPVO earlier confirmed that two hog heads out of six samples tested in one barangay yielded positive results.

Data also indicated that over 700 hog heads in Oton, 195 in San Miguel, 80 in Leganes, and 57 in Alimodian have already been depopulated, as of Nov 6.

ASF has also affected 83 hog farmers in Oton, nine in San Miguel, five in Leganes, three in Santa Barbara, and one in Alimodian.