RP suffers setback in containing FMD following new outbreaks

The Philippines has suffered a setback in its bid to be accredited as a foot-and-mouth disease (FMD)-free zone by the Paris-based animal health monitoring body International des Epizooties (OIE), as 10 cases of new outbreaks were recorded this year.

Data from the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) showed sporadic outbreaks in Laguna, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Batangas, and in Tondo and Muntinlupa in Metro Manila.

The reported outbreaks this year, however, were lower than the 22 reported cases during the same period last year.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has targeted to wipe out FMD by May this year. It has been successful so far in containing the disease to Luzon, while the provinces of Palawan and Masbate have already gained FMD-free status.

Visayas and Mindanao regions were already certified as FMD-free as early as 2002 and 2001, respectively. Luzon, however, still exhibits traces of the FMD virus on cloven-hoofed animals such as pigs, cattle, horses and carabaos.

The Philippines has been campaigning over the past 10 years for the OIE’s seal of approval as this will boost the country’s bid to export beef and other meat products.

An endorsement by the OIE attests to world-class standards of these commodities and assures buyers that meat imported from the Philippines is safe and clean.

Initially, the country is targeting to export to Muslim countries in Asia but first, these shipments have to be halal certified, which means they will have undergo the Muslim rituals for preparing food.

BAI director Jose Molina said the program to eradicate FMD could not move as fast because of budgetary woes.

"With very limited budget, we may now find it difficult to meet our self-imposed target date to be FMD-free," he said.

Molina said that BAI still has not received the P27 million fund for FMD eradication for 2004. The amount would be used to indemnify owners of the diseased animals.

Despite the absence of the OIE certification, Molina said the DA is still working to eliminate the livestock disease in the country and make the local livestock industry competitive in the global arena. He said that the government is implementing a vaccination and livestock management program to prevent the disease from spreading to other areas.

"We already distributed some 500 doses of FMD vaccines to the Office of the Provincial Veterinarian in La Union, Pangasinan and 250 doses in Tiaong, Quezon. We also distributed 43 doses to backyard raisers in Metro Manila," Molina said.

The sporadic incidents were said to have originated from contaminated fomites (inanimate objects such as dishes, shoes, etc. that may have been contaminated with the disease),illegal movements of infected animals by viajeros, lack of biosecurity measures in the slaughterhouse, non-isolation of newly introduced animals in the farm, swill feeding, auction market, and contaminated holding yard.