LOCAL MAYOR Beng Climaco signed Executive Order 543–2020 to strictly implement the Department of Agriculture guidelines of zoning and protocols with regards to the movement, sale, and trade of hogs, pork and pork products to contain the spread of African swine fever (ASF) in the country.
Climaco said this is also in pursuant to President Rodrigo Duterte’s order urging local governments and national government agencies to harmonize efforts with the Department of Agriculture in stopping the spread of ASF. She said Zamboanga remains free from ASF.
City Veterinarian Mario Arriola also explained that the zoning and movement plan is a map guiding local governments on where hogs, pork, and pork products can be transported, sold, or traded according to classified zones.
These zones, he said, are based on geographical limits established by authorities upon identification of infected and quarantine zone as well as ASF status of provinces and regions.
Arriola said there are two general zones – containment zone and free zones. The containment zone is further categorized into four zones depending on the area’s ASF status: red (infected zone), yellow (surveillance zone), pink (buffer zone), and light green (protected zone).
In the recent case of ASF outbreak in Davao region, the province is considered under the red zone, meaning no pork product from the Davao region is allowed to enter any province or region in Mindanao, he further said.
He echoed Climaco’s statement that Zamboanga remains ASF-free due to the vigilant and stringent measures launched by the local government.
The local government, Arriola said, has barred the entry of hogs, pork, and pork products from countries and areas with ASF, including pork products that do not have shipping permit and veterinarian certificate.
Arriola said local government employees have been deployed to assist in checkpoints and called on residents to avoid feeding hogs and pigs with swill or kitchen refuse and scraps as this may contain contaminated pork products.
Checkpoints have been in placed in entry and exit points in Zamboanga since last year to ensure that no infected hogs and its pork products slip past the city.
Just early this month, Climaco also reminded authorities to strictly keep a tight watch on the he entry of processed pork products and meat following the outbreak of the fatal hog disease that killed thousands of pigs in Davao City, Davao Occidental, Davao del Sur and in South Cotabato’s Koronadal City.
Climaco said strict protocols will be observed to monitor and regulate the entry of hog and pork products here as a measure against the contagious animal disease.
Last September, Climaco organized the “Task Force Karne” with the local government working closely with the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) and the Department of Agriculture in conducting inspections in support to the national ban on the importation, distribution and sale of all processed pork products from countries infected with the ASF such as China following the breakout of the disease in July 2019, mostly backyard pigs in the provinces of Rizal and Bulacan and then spread elsewhere in Luzon.
The task force is comprised of representatives from City Veterinary Office, National Meat Inspection Service, Task Force Ordinance, and Business Permits and Licensing Division. Climaco said random and surprised inspection in public markets and grocery stores, barter trade centers and supermarkets continue here to ensure that no canned pork products, particularly those imported from countries where ASF had been reported.
The FDA previously ordered the pull-out from the markets of all processed pork products such as luncheon meat imported from Russia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Moldova, South Africa, Zambia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Belgium, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Mongolia, Vietnam, and Cambodia.
AFS is a large, double-stranded DNA virus in the Asfarviridae family. The virus is transmitted to pigs through direct contact with infected pigs, their waste, contaminated clothing, feed, equipment and vehicles, and in some cases, some tick species.
Although ASF cannot be transmitted to humans through contact with pigs or pork, the virus causes a haemorrhagic fever with high mortality rates in domestic pigs; some isolates can cause death of animals as quickly as a week after infection. (Zamboanga Post)
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A man roasts a pig in Zamboanga. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)
Climaco said this is also in pursuant to President Rodrigo Duterte’s order urging local governments and national government agencies to harmonize efforts with the Department of Agriculture in stopping the spread of ASF. She said Zamboanga remains free from ASF.
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| A man roasts a pig in Zamboanga City. (Mindanao Examiner Photo) |
These zones, he said, are based on geographical limits established by authorities upon identification of infected and quarantine zone as well as ASF status of provinces and regions.
Arriola said there are two general zones – containment zone and free zones. The containment zone is further categorized into four zones depending on the area’s ASF status: red (infected zone), yellow (surveillance zone), pink (buffer zone), and light green (protected zone).
In the recent case of ASF outbreak in Davao region, the province is considered under the red zone, meaning no pork product from the Davao region is allowed to enter any province or region in Mindanao, he further said.
He echoed Climaco’s statement that Zamboanga remains ASF-free due to the vigilant and stringent measures launched by the local government.
The local government, Arriola said, has barred the entry of hogs, pork, and pork products from countries and areas with ASF, including pork products that do not have shipping permit and veterinarian certificate.
Arriola said local government employees have been deployed to assist in checkpoints and called on residents to avoid feeding hogs and pigs with swill or kitchen refuse and scraps as this may contain contaminated pork products.
Checkpoints have been in placed in entry and exit points in Zamboanga since last year to ensure that no infected hogs and its pork products slip past the city.
Just early this month, Climaco also reminded authorities to strictly keep a tight watch on the he entry of processed pork products and meat following the outbreak of the fatal hog disease that killed thousands of pigs in Davao City, Davao Occidental, Davao del Sur and in South Cotabato’s Koronadal City.
Climaco said strict protocols will be observed to monitor and regulate the entry of hog and pork products here as a measure against the contagious animal disease.
Last September, Climaco organized the “Task Force Karne” with the local government working closely with the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) and the Department of Agriculture in conducting inspections in support to the national ban on the importation, distribution and sale of all processed pork products from countries infected with the ASF such as China following the breakout of the disease in July 2019, mostly backyard pigs in the provinces of Rizal and Bulacan and then spread elsewhere in Luzon.
The task force is comprised of representatives from City Veterinary Office, National Meat Inspection Service, Task Force Ordinance, and Business Permits and Licensing Division. Climaco said random and surprised inspection in public markets and grocery stores, barter trade centers and supermarkets continue here to ensure that no canned pork products, particularly those imported from countries where ASF had been reported.
The FDA previously ordered the pull-out from the markets of all processed pork products such as luncheon meat imported from Russia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Moldova, South Africa, Zambia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Belgium, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Mongolia, Vietnam, and Cambodia.
AFS is a large, double-stranded DNA virus in the Asfarviridae family. The virus is transmitted to pigs through direct contact with infected pigs, their waste, contaminated clothing, feed, equipment and vehicles, and in some cases, some tick species.
Although ASF cannot be transmitted to humans through contact with pigs or pork, the virus causes a haemorrhagic fever with high mortality rates in domestic pigs; some isolates can cause death of animals as quickly as a week after infection. (Zamboanga Post)
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A man roasts a pig in Zamboanga. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)
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