DA eyes zero ASF cases by year end

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is optimistic about eradicating African Swine Fever (ASF) cases in the Philippines by the end of the year, with a vaccine for mass trials recently approved and expected to be rolled out soon.

In a post-State of the Nation Address discussion on Tuesday, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. acknowledged the challenges ASF has posed for the local hog industry and emphasized the importance of biosecurity measures.

“But biosecurity alone is not enough, in my opinion, and in our opinion,” Laurel said. “[And] one ASF vaccine, which was recently approved, will be billed out to the DA this August. Hopefully, by September, it will be implemented. We will vaccinate [the] red zones and yellow zones, hopefully eradicating this for the growers.”

“Hopefully, by the end of the year, it will be almost gone,” he added.

Laurel mentioned that the DA is currently working on a Certificate of Product Registration (CPR) for the ASF vaccine.

“Hopefully that will be out by August, and for bidding and awarding by September and rollout by September,” he said. "Because, as of the moment, there's only one actually accredited vaccine. [T]here is no other competitor as of the moment.”

He noted that the CPR is intended for government use in mass trials.

Laurel indicated that if the trials go well over the next six months, the ASF vaccine could be approved for commercial use.

‘Q Fever Seems Endemic to PH’

Meanwhile, Laurel remarked that Q fever appears to be endemic to the Philippines.

“I sent a team to America, and it seems that [the Q fever] is not coming from there. It seems to be endemic to us. But further research into that issue.it's not that many [areas] are affected,” he said, adding that the affected areas are only limited.

“It seems to be easy to treat with the available medicines we have in the Philippines. our protocols, the policies of the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), to strengthen it to further make sure that none of these diseases will escape the quarantine,” Laurel added.

In June, the DA confirmed the first case of Q fever in the Philippines, a zoonotic disease transmissible to humans.

The BAI detected Q fever in goats at a government breeding station in Marinduque and a quarantine facility in Pampanga. These goats were imported from the United States for a dispersal program for farmers.

“The findings now, after we talked to the USDA and looked at all the records, it seems that the goats got sick here,” Laurel said, adding that these reports are still under validation.

“That's what we're looking for now. Because so far from our tests in other places, there are no cases. It seems like an isolated incident. But it looks like it's been here for a long time,” he added.