Anti-ASF, bird flu monitoring continues

By Dolly Yasa

BACOLOD City – Negros Occidental Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) head Placida Lemana said they continue to monitor the province’s ports against the African swine fever (ASF) and bird flu.

Lemana said the current ban on the entry of pork and poultry from outside the province remains.

At the BREDCO port alone in Bacolod City, she said that every passenger arriving from outside the province is being checked by PVO and law enforcement personnel to make sure that they are not carrying any pork or poultry products.

The current monitoring against ASF has also been further stepped up as 14 local government units in Panay and two from Guimaras are already affected.

Data from the PVO indicated that as of Jan 1-8, 2023, they have confiscated a total of 162 kilos of pork products with a market value of more than P151,000.

Also recently, the PVO ordered a vehicle carrying 20 heads of piglets entering from Negros Oriental to return back to its place of origin after failing to provide the required documents.

Aside from the BREDCO and Banago ports in Bacolod City, PVO personnel are also guarding the Bacolod-Silay Airport, as well as the ports in the cities of Cadiz, Sagay, Escalante, and San Carlos, as well as the town of E.B. Magalona.

Negros Occidental has a P6 billion swine industry, while the province’s poultry industry is valued at P8 billion.

The entry of ASF and bird flu in the province will not only negatively impact the livelihood of the Negrenses, but it could severely damage the province’s ability to produce food, as Negros Occidental is also one of the top food producers and exporters in the Visayas, Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson earlier said.