DA’s plan to explore ivermectin vs ASF hit

The Department of Agriculture’s (DA) newly formed research team, which will look into the potential of using the antiparasitic drug ivermectin to control the spread of African swine fever (ASF), has been described by an agricultural group as a mere “publicity stunt,” saying the DA had run out of constructive solutions to solve the ASF outbreaks. The Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag) on Tuesday blasted Agriculture Secretary William Dar for his “meaningless” solutions to curb the spread of swine fever, rather than heed the call of farmers to intensify border control and raise the indemnification funds for affected hog raisers. “That is a publicity stunt. It’s meaningless,” said Rosendo So, chair of Sinag. No studies have shown the efficacy of ivermectin against swine fever.

—Karl R. Ocampo