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Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary William Dar on Thursday said the occurrence of African swine fever (ASF) outbreaks in the country is “tapering down." He added that outbreaks were managed through elevated quarantine measures, as well as through enhanced interagency and interdepartmental collaboration.
Dar, however, stressed the need to disseminate the national zoning plan to all local government units to effectively control the movement of pork and pork-related products and prevent the spread of the hog disease.
Under the zoning plan, areas in the country will be classified by their ASF status -- free zones, containment zones, surveillance zones, protected zones, and infected zones.
Visayas, Mindanao, and Mimaropa regions are considered free zones. This means that these areas can freely trade their products anywhere in the country. For the containment zones, regions 1 (Ilocos), 2 (Cagayan Valley), and 5 (Bicol) are protected zones; Regions 3 (Central Luzon) and 4A (Calabarzon) are surveillance zones; Bulacan and Pampanga are infected zones.
The local hog industry has lost a total of PHP4 billion since mid-August, due to ASF. He noted that PHP220 million has been disbursed from indemnification fund to mitigate the impact of ASF.
Thursday, December 19, 2019 /Philippine News Agency/ Philippines.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/
