Controlled ASF vax to start soon

The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Friday said a controlled vaccination against the African swine fever (ASF) will begin in the next two weeks.

DA Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Arnel de Mesa said the activity will be monitored jointly by the Bureau of Animal Industry and the Food and Drug Administration.

He explained that the vaccination is not a commercial trial, saying that “we will still choose the ones we will vaccinate, the hogs or pigs, to make sure because every step of the way there is a risk.”

“So we will control the risk so that we will not have a problem,” he added.

Further, the DA official said that if the controlled vaccinations have good results, “the FDA will give the go-signal for the next round of vaccinations.”

“I cannot say if this is the final trial, but the laboratories are already done. I will just check, but I think it can be expanded after this,” De Mesa said.

ASF is a viral disease affecting pigs and wild boar with up to a 100-percent fatality rate. It, however, does not infect humans, but humans can carry the virus and transmit it to pigs through their vehicles, equipment, clothes, slippers and shoes.

The DA also announced on Monday its plans to substitute 10-percent of imported pork, or approximately 60,000 metric tons, this year which is expected to stabilize pork prices in the retail market and reduce the threat of ASF to the country’s hog industry.