The Department of Agriculture (DA) confirmed on Monday the arrival of 10,000 doses of African Swine Fever (ASF) vaccines from Vietnam, which will be used for emergency inoculation following its outbreak in Batangas province.
According to Agriculture Assistant Secretary for Swine and Poultry Dr. Dante Palabrica, the vaccination is part of a wider controlled testing of the ASF vaccine from Vietnam.
He added that some ASF vaccine manufacturers from the US, South Korea, and Vietnam are also applying to the Food and Drug Administration to be part of the Bureau of Animal Industry-led controlled testing. These applicants have vaccines that could be injected into breeders and growers.
The inoculation of swine in Batangas is eyed this week.
The DA recently concluded consultations with hog stakeholders and local government officials from Calabarzon about protocols for the movement of healthy hogs to other zones.
“The government will ease regulation, but we have to make sure only live and healthy pigs are transported, not infected ones, to avoid the spread of ASF. That’s why it’s important that we ensure infected animals stay in red zones,” DA Undersecretary for Policy, Planning and Regulation Asis Perez said.