Agriculture Sec. Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. directed the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) to refine the protocols for vaccination in order to expedite the rollout of the African Swine Fever (ASF) vaccine developed in Vietnam.
Laurel made the order after the vaccine showed encouraging results in a pilot test in Batangas.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) said that blood tests counducted on more than three dozen pigs inoculated last September in Lobo, Batangas, the ground zero of the latest ASF outbreak, show that the hogs developed sufficient antibodies to combat the virus.
"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," Laurel said in a statement.
Based on the latest data of BAI, 30 provinces have active ASF cases as of October 2.
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.
Laurel acknowledges that many backyard hog raisers hesitate to join the ASF vaccine rollout due to some negative publicity, and concerns that their pigs will be slaughtered if the animals test positive for the virus.
