DA chief orders BAI to refine ASF vaccination protocol to fast-track rollout

Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel, Jr. ordered the Bureau of Animal Industry to refine its vaccination protocol to expedite rollout of the African Swine Fever vaccine developed in Vietnam that showed encouraging results in a pilot test in Batangas.

Blood tests conducted by the Bureau of Animal Industry on more than three dozen pigs inoculated last month in Lobo, Batangas—ground zero of the latest ASF outbreak—has shown that the hogs developed sufficient antibodies to combat the ASF virus.

The DA initially bought 10,000 doses of AVAC live vaccines through emergency procurement in August as part of a broader plan to distribute at least 600,000 vaccine doses. The vaccine rollout aims to rid the hog industry of the dreaded animal disease that has decimated local hog population since its first outbreak in 2019.

Even so, Secretary Tiu Laurel acknowledged that many backyard hog raisers are hesitant to join the ASF vaccine rollout due to some negative publicity and some farmers’ concerns that their pigs will be slaughtered if tests showed the animals are infected.

“We’re hopeful that impending changes to the vaccination protocol will finally fasttrack the vaccine rollout and finally address our problem with this stubborn virus,” the DA chief said.

The latest BAI data on ASF infection showed that as of Oct. 2, 30 provinces in 14 of the country’s 17 regions have active ASF cases. ###