The province of Davao de Oro is eyeing a green zone status from the African swine fever (ASF) virus, according to an official.
Provincial veterinarian Dr. Rolando Simene on Wednesday said that currently, only one municipality still has positive cases but the remaining municipalities are all ASF-free.
He also said that 600 heads of pigs were killed and buried in Davao de Oro due to ASF.
“We are trying to make it from the red zone into pink zone kasi ang pink going towards green na ug ginahulat lang namo ang reports from the municipality to qualify them from red to pink and eventually become green. We still have scheduled quarantine measures para dili gyud makagawas ug mag spread sa ubang lugar and with the quarantine measures that we are implementing with the barangay,” Simene said during Wednesday’s Habi at Kape media forum.
Depending on the ASF condition of the area, the Department of Agriculture (DA) has divided the containment zone into four zones: red (infested zone), yellow (surveillance zone), pink (buffer zone), and light green (protected zone).
In 2021, the Davao de Oro African swine fever Task Force reported that hogs in a piggery in Nabunturan town tested positive for the virus.
“During sa kasagsagan ng ASF. Luoy pud ang mga farmers because we depopulate the area that was affected by ASF and there were hundreds of heads of swine that were slaughtered and buried to stop the spread of the disease,” he said.
Simene said that undertakings are ongoing to restart the swine sector in the province, including support from the DA’s Integrated National Swine Production Initiatives For Recovery And Growth (Inspire) program of including a P7 million cash support for the repopulation efforts.
