DA expands ASF vaccine drive

MANILA, Philippines —  The Department of Agriculture (DA) has expanded the coverage of the African swine fever (ASF) vaccine program to fast-track the inoculation of and protect more pigs nationwide.

Arnel De Mesa, Agriculture assistant secretary and spokesman, said the DA amended the guidelines for the ASF vaccination program to accelerate the rollout of vaccines and streamline the application of interested hog raisers.

“Before, our priority were areas with ASF. This time, we are vaccinating in areas even without ASF, or in areas with ASF but with negative test results in the past 40 days of surveillance,” De Mesa said yesterday.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. issued administrative circular 13, which revised the guidelines for the vaccine rollout, with the aim of “effectively increasing” the participation of farms in the inoculation program.

“There is a need to address low participation rate and gaps in the existing implementation protocol particularly on the utilization and administration of vaccinated pigs,” Tiu Laurel said.

Under the amended rules, areas with no active cases for at least 40 days would be covered by the vaccination drive. Previously, only barangays that have been ASF-free within an infected zone as well as areas upgraded to pink zone were eligible for the vaccination.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) reported a 21-percent drop in ASF cases after it recorded outbreaks in 369 villages, or a decrease by 96 barangays when compared to the previous record of 467 barangays.

The BAI recorded the outbreaks in North Cotabato (147 barangays), Camarines Sur (51), Batangas (41), Abra (29), Cavite (28), Kalinga and Quezon (14 each), Laguna (9), Masbate (8) and La Union (5).

The provinces of Bulacan, Catanduanes and Sultan Kudarat each have three barangays affected while Ilocos Norte, Occidental Mindoro, Camarines Norte and Sorsogon each have two affected barangays.

Tiu Laurel has assured the public of enough pork supply during the holidays, noting that the importation of frozen pork has increased by 10 percent this year.

The DA has allocated P350 million for the procurement of 600,000 doses of ASF vaccine.  –  Bella Cariaso