MANILA – The Department of Agriculture (DA) said Monday that it expanded the government-controlled vaccination against African swine fever (ASF) in Batangas province to include more villages in Lobo town and Lipa City.
In an ambush interview, DA Assistant Secretary for Swine and Poultry Constante Palabrica said the expanded inoculation started at the International Training Center on Pig Husbandry (ITCPH) in Lipa on Saturday, involving around 350 pigs.
Palabrica said the vaccination activity at ITCPH aims to show that the AVAC live vaccines are effective against ASF.
“Gusto ko ipakita kung kami na nasa gobyerno, eh ang lakas ng loob magbakuna sa amin. Bakit hindi kayo? Gusto ko lang makita ng mga (I just want to show that we in the government are very confident to vaccinate our hogs. Why shouldn’t you? This is to show those) anti-vax (that) it’s effective,” he said.
The DA-Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) proceeded with the expansion after 34 out of 41 hogs in two farms in Lobo town developed 90 percent antibodies 30 days after being vaccinated on August 30.
“Ang tawag sa veterinary doon (the veterinary calls that as), zero conversion. Ibig sabihin, iyong (vaccine) virus na dating nagkaroon or positive, pumalit na iyong antibody. Kino-convert na ng katawan ng baboy yung bakuna (It means that the vaccine virus which was present before or positive, it was replaced by antibody. The hog’s bodies convert vaccines) into antibodies,” Palabrica said.
For the next 30 days, he said they are expecting at least 95 percent antibodies among the 34 hogs.
Eventually, the DA sees 80 to 90 percent herd immunity among the remaining hog population in Batangas.
The DA earlier said it eyes to finish the rollout of the 10, 000 emergency-procured AVAC live vaccines for Batangas this month.
BAI Officer-in-charge Director Diosamia Sevilla, meanwhile, said over 1, 000 doses of AVAC live vaccines are included in the ongoing vaccination.
“As of the latest, 90 heads po iyong unang napa-report sa (were initially reported in) Lobo. Tapos may ongoing na po na 1, 000 plus sa (Then there’s the ongoing 1, 000 plus in) Batangas,” she said.
The DA will also procure 500, 000 doses of AVAC live vaccines this month for the gradual expansion in Visayas and Mindanao.
As of October 2, there are 534 red zones or villages with active ASF cases in 122 municipalities in 14 regions.
The provinces with the highest number of red zones are North Cotabato with 131, Quezon with 98, Batangas with 72, Camarines Sur with 43 and La Union with 35. (PNA)