African Swine Fever red zone extends to third Iloilo town


ILOILO CITY — The red zone classification has extended to a third town in Iloilo province after African Swine Fever (ASF) was detected among hogs in more than one barangay in Leganes town.

Dr. Darel Tabuada, chief of the Iloilo Provincial Veterinarian Office (IPVO), said that samples from hog farms in Barangay Guinobatan tested positive for ASF.

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HOGS ready to be transported in Iloilo province. (Tara Yap)

While Leganes was one of the four towns with ASF cases in the province, it was not initially under red zone classification status as only Barangay MV Hechanova only had a hog farm infected with ASF.

With Barangay Guinobatan having hogs infected with ASF, Tabuada explained that Leganes was officially in the red zone status.

Under red zone status, the transportation and trading of live hogs, pork, or pork-based products in and out of Leganes town are banned.

The IPVO and the local government of Leganes under Mayor Junjun Jaen are coordinating for hog depopulation as means of curbing the spread of ASF.

Aside from Leganes, ASF was also recorded in the towns of Oton, San Miguel, and Alimodian.