POULTRY RAISING. Native chickens being bred in a backyard. Negros Oriental is banning the entry of chicken and other poultry products from Leyte after cases of Avian influenza were detected. (PNA file photo by Mary Judaline Partlow)
DUMAGUETE CITY – The Negros Oriental provincial government is banning the entry of chicken and other poultry products from Leyte and other areas after the Department of Agriculture recently announced cases of Avian influenza (AI) or bird flu.
Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) information officer-designate Jaymar Vilos said Tuesday the ban covers all shipment of poultry from Leyte and other provinces previously reported to have AI cases.
Vilos said Governor Manuel Sagarbarria is expected to sign a new order this week on the prohibition, updating an older, existing version where some AI-affected provinces previously banned are now free of the disease while new ones are to be included.
“We removed the list of some provinces, like in Mindanao, from the list after they were declared free of AI by the national government. However, there are new areas that have to be included in the new order,” he said.
In the meantime, Vilos said they are undertaking strict monitoring and surveillance against the bird flu virus. So far, the more than 140 blood samples have all tested negative for the disease.
High-risk areas visited by migratory birds are also on constant watch.
Apart from Leyte, the provinces of Bulacan, Tarlac, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Laguna, Kalinga, Cagayan, and Bataan, are also prohibited from shipping poultry products to Negros Oriental after the Bureau of Animal Industry reported AI cases, Vilos said.
High pork prices
Meanwhile, pork prices in Negros Oriental remained high amid a continuing lack of supply of live hogs in the markets.
Prices have reached as much as PHP420 a kilo for lean meat.
Vilos said there have been no shipments from Negros Oriental since the delivery of 285 live hogs from Mindanao last month.
Backyard and large-scale raisers are starting to breed hogs again, but the PVO recommended that local government units (LGU) upgrade their zoning status to guarantee the farmers that the animals they are raising in the area are safe, he said.
If the LGU does not have a zoning status, Vilos said there is always a possibility that the pigs being raised are at risk of African swine fever. (PNA)
