DA chief wants wider coverage of ASF vaccine controlled testing

Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. has instructed the Bureau of Animal Industry to expand its controlled testing of the African Swine Fever vaccine to additional areas in Luzon, as well as regions designated as red zones in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Last week, the BAI initiated the first round of vaccinations on healthy pigs in Lobo, Batangas, which has been identified as ground zero for the largest ASF outbreak since the monsoon season began.

“We will cast a wider net to include La Union, Quezon, Mindoro, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, and Cebu in the BAI’s controlled testing of the initial 150,000 doses of ASF vaccines we have imported from Vietnam,” Secretary Tiu Laurel said.

The vaccines are being provided free of charge to hog farmers to support their efforts in combating the disease.

Secretary Tiu Laurel said commercial pig farms located in areas with numerous infections will also receive ASF vaccines to safeguard their stocks from the disease. “Our goal is to ensure a steady supply of pork in the market and stabilize prices,” he added.

Since the first ASF outbreak in 2019, which led to the culling of over 300,000 pigs, the Philippine hog industry has struggled to recover from the disease’s severe impact. The high mortality rate of ASF has forced many small-scale pig farms to cease operations to avoid substantial losses.

In response, the Department of Agriculture has increased indemnification for diseased pigs surrendered for culling, raising compensation ceiling to PHP 12,000 for breeders from the previous maximum of PHP 5,000.

The government has allocated PHP 300 million for the procurement of approximately 600,000 doses of the ASF vaccine developed in Vietnam, and an additional PHP 50 million for related inoculation costs. ###