Meat producers laud release of vax vs. ASF

Members of Pork Producers Federations of the Philippines Inc. (PPFPI) lauded the move of Agriculture Secretary Francis Tiu Laurel Jr. and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to roll out the vaccine against African Swine Fever (ASF) by the third quarter of 2024.

PPFPI chairperson, also AGAP Partylist Representative Nikki Briones, in a press conference on Thursday, said the move of DA and FDA is good development for hog raisers that were badly battered by the ASF throughout the years.

"The move was a great help for our sector, especially that the vaccines will be given free. It’s a ray of hope for us,” Briones told reporters.

He said hog raisers will surely benefit from this, as 600,000 swine will inoculated for free, utilizing the P350 million budget for the inoculation process.

However, Briones said consumers should brace for the possible uptick of pork meat prices if the free ASF vaccines are depleted.

“This means hog raisers will shoulder at least P550 to P600 per dose of vaccine for their swine, an added operational cost for them. So, prices of pork meat might rise in the coming months. But this can be averted if the government will add the budget to procure free vaccines,” according to Briones.

Briones, on the other hand, asked the government to also roll out vaccines for Bird Flu which has been hurting poultry owners in the country.

“If we can at least prevent these viruses from affecting the hog and poultry industry, then prices of these commodities will eventually go down benefiting the consumers,” Briones maintained.

Out of the department’s target of 600,000 doses, around 150,000 doses of AVAC ASF Live are expected to arrive in the Philippines by the third quarter of 2024.

On its official website, the AVAC ASF LIVE vaccine is developed by the AVAC Viet Nam, JSC and is described as “a freeze-dried, attenuated vaccine that is cultivated on the DMAC [Diep’s Macrophage cell] cell line.”

The said vaccine is intended for pigs that are four weeks old and above with a recommended single-dose administration and a protective immunity period of at least five months.

The rollout will be strictly voluntary and will prioritize eligible commercial farms, semi-commercial enterprises, and clustered backyard farms—most likely in the Red and Pink Zones—under the strict supervision of the Bureau of Animal Industry.

Under the DA Administrative Circular No. 2, series of 2022, the Amended National ASF Zoning and Movement Plan defines Red Zones as municipalities or cities with confirmed ASF cases that spread to other barangays in the same municipality or city within 15 days, while Pink Zones include Metro Manila as well as cities and municipalities where ASF is not detected but demarcated immediately around the Red Zone.