AGRICULTURE chief Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. has ordered nationwide testing of an African swine fever (ASF) vaccine to ensure stable supply of pork throughout the country.
The Department of Agriculture said Monday that it would expand controlled ASF vaccinations to other areas in Luzon as well as in regions designated as “red zones” in the Visayas and Mindanao.
“We will cast a wider net to include La Union, Quezon, Mindoro, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Cebu in the Bureau of Animal Industry’s (BAI) controlled testing of the initial 150,000 doses of ASF vaccines we have imported from Vietnam,” Tiu Laurel said.
Controlled testing is currently being done in Lobo, Batangas, where higher cases of the animal disease have been recorded. The province has been identified as ground zero for the largest ASF outbreak since the monsoon season began.
The AVAC Live vaccines are being provided free of charge to hog farmers to support their efforts in combating the disease.
Tiu Laurel said commercial pig farms located in areas with numerous infections would also receive ASF vaccines to safeguard stocks from the disease.
“Our goal is to ensure a steady supply of pork in the market and stabilize prices,” he said.
The government has allocated P300 million for the procurement of approximately 600,000 doses of the ASF vaccine from Vietnam, plus an additional P50 million for related inoculation costs.
As of September 6, the number of provinces with active cases of ASF had slightly fallen to 31 from 32 the previous month, while the number of affected barangays had risen to 472 from 458 in August, BAI data showed.
Since the first outbreak in 2019, which led to the culling of more than 300,000 pigs, the Philippine hog industry has struggled to recover from its severe impact.
“The high mortality rate of ASF has forced many small-scale pig farms to cease operations to avoid substantial losses,” the Agriculture Department said.
In response to the outbreak, the government has increased indemnification for diseased pigs surrendered for culling, raising the compensation ceiling to P12,000 each for breeders from the previous maximum of P5,000.
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