DA expands coverage of ASF vaccine testing

DA Sec. Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) plans to carry out an ongoing trial run of African swine fever (ASF) vaccines bought from Vietnam in even more areas to help hog farmers find a cure for the viral disease.

In a statement on Monday, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the DA “[would] cast a wider net” to include areas in Luzon and regions designated as red zones (with active ASF cases) in Visayas and Mindanao.

He added that 150,000 doses of the ASF vaccine would be used to inoculate hogs in La Union, Quezon, Mindoro, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Cebu provinces as part of the controlled testing being conducted by the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI).

READ: DA expecting 440,000 ASF vaccines to arrive in Oct

Commercial pig farms in areas with numerous infections will also be covered to safeguard their stocks.

All vaccines will be provided free of charge.

“Our goal is to ensure a steady supply of pork in the market and stabilize prices,” Tiu Laurel said.

This marked the first time the government conducted controlled vaccine testing after it recorded the first ASF outbreak in the country in 2019.

The DA earlier earmarked P350 million for the program: P300 million for the procurement of about 600,000 doses of Vietnamese-made ASF vaccines and P50 million for inoculation-related costs.

The first shipment covering 10,000 doses arrived last month. Another 150,000 doses were later delivered, but these have yet to be used.

Among the initial recipients of the ASF vaccines in an inoculation drive conducted on Aug. 30 were 41 hogs in Lobo town, Batangas province—ground zero of the ASF resurgence in the country.

Five of the hogs, however, eventually died, Lobo Mayor Lota Manalo said during a hearing conducted by the Senate committee on agriculture, food, and agrarian reform.

Over the weekend, Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said the remaining 440,000 doses were expected to arrive and be released within October to sustain the government-controlled vaccination campaign.

The country has active ASF cases in 14 regions, 31 provinces, and 109 municipalities, based on the BAI’s tally as of Sept. 6.

ASF is a highly contagious viral disease afflicting domestic and wild pigs with a possible mortality rate of 100 percent, according to the World Organization for Animal Health.

While considered not a danger to human health, the disease can have devastating effects on pig populations and the farming economy.

The industry-wide losses to the country’s swine sector have been estimated at around P100 billion. The total swine inventory also dipped by 2.1 percent to 9.86 million heads as of September last year, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.