Negros Occidental, Bacolod lift ban on poultry from Visayas

MANILA, Philippines — The ban imposed by the local government units of Negros Occidental and Bacolod City on the entry of poultry and its byproducts from areas affected by avian influenza or bird flu in the Visayas has been lifted.

A joint executive order recently issued by Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson and Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez again allows the entry of ready-to-lay pullets as well as poultry products, including eggs and manure, from the Visayas, including Panay and Guimaras.

The Department of Agriculture Regional Advisory Committee for Animal Disease Control and Emergency-Western Visayas approved a resolution requesting Negros Occidental and Bacolod City to lift the ban after Capiz was declared free of bird flu last month.

The first case of bird flu in Capiz was detected in Barangay Dayaw in Roxas City on Dec. 2 last year.

Negros Occidental had imposed a total ban on the entry of live birds and poultry products such as meat and eggs from bird flu-affected areas across the country.

The ban is aimed at protecting the P8-billion poultry industry in the province.

Negros Occidental remains free from bird flu.

Meanwhile, in La Union, James Fernandez, 32, and Jay-R Idos, 28, were arrested on Monday for allegedly bringing poultry products from a bird flu-affected province.

The suspects, both residents of Malasiqui in Pangasinan, were in two tricycles when they were caught transporting 90 pieces of poultry products, locally known as biculis.

A ban on the entry of poultry products from bird flu-infected areas remains in effect in La Union.