Five municipalities in the Cordillera previously categorized under a red zone category due to the African Swine Fever (ASF) have now been upgraded to pink following no reported ASF infections in the area for a period of almost one month.
On Jan. 12, 2023, according to the Bantay ASF sa Barangay or “BABAY ASF” report, the municipalities of Tadian and Bauko in Mountain Province, Bokod and Kapangan in Benguet, and Rizal in Kalinga were the areas upgraded to pink status or under the buffer zone.
The upgrade was made in accordance with the National ASF Zoning and Movement Plan, the upgrade comes after no ASF incidence was recorded in the said municipalities between Dec. 20, 2022, to January 12 this year.
There are two levels for the declaration of the ASF-free status of an area previously infected with ASF. The first is the city/municipality level declaration of ASF-free status with certain barangays that having been previously infected will be declared ASF-free areas by the Provincial Task Force after providing the necessary documents warranting their declaration.
The second level would be the National Declaration of ASF Free Status of a whole province to be declared by the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Animal Industry (DA-BAI). All infected barangays of the city/municipality must be locally declared ASF-free areas, prior to application of being declared ASF-free on a national level provided the area to be declared submits the necessary documents to warrant the said declaration.
A nationwide color zone status on ASF is currently being followed by the Bureau of Animal Industry of Department of Agriculture. A Red zone or infected zone includes provinces with confirmed cases of ASF, and a Pink zone or buffer zone includes cities/municipalities adjacent to an infected zone which include ASF-free localities in an infected province that has not reported a case of ASF at a certain period of time.
A Yellow zone or surveillance zone includes provinces that are high-risk areas because of a dense population of swine, and the volume of trade of pigs, pork, and pork products, Light Green zones or protected areas are regions or provinces with no cases of ASF, and considered as low-risk provinces but are contiguous or shares a common border with the Yellow zone in terms of land mass.
Dark Green zones or free zones are defined as the geographical limit which remains free from the ASF virus. White zone is applied to an area considered a protected zone.
At present, there are 286 cities/municipalities that have been declared under pink status in the country.
African Swine Fever (ASF) is a highly contagious viral disease of pigs. In its acute form, the disease generally results in high mortality. ASF is a different disease from swine flu. The virus does not affect people and there is no impact on human health.
