Agri chief orders refinement of ASF vaccination protocol

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. has ordered the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) to refine its vaccination protocol to expedite the rollout of the Vietnam-developed African Swine Fever (ASF) vaccine.

“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,” Tiu Laurel said in a statement on Friday.

The Agriculture chief said that blood tests conducted by the BAI on more than three dozen pigs inoculated last month in Lobo, Batangas — the 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 rpeonoutbreak in 2019.

Tiu Laurel, however, 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.

Latest BAI data on ASF infection showed that as of October 2, 2024, 30 provinces in 14 of the country’s 17 regions have active ASF cases. — BAP, GMA Integrated News