MANILA – To expedite the government-controlled vaccination against African swine fever (ASF), the Department of Agriculture (DA) has expanded its rollout nationwide, including commercial farms and swine herds, under the Integrated National Swine Production Initiatives for Recovery and Expansion (INSPIRE) Program.
In a phone interview, DA Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said the move will supplement the controlled rollout in small farms.
“Iyong bilang kasi ng (The number of [pigs] in) small hold, less than 100 and then iyong semi-commercial malaki iyon and then commercial talagang thousands of heads. Talagang mas mabilis (in the semi-commercial, that’s huge, and then thousands of heads for commercials. It will be really fast),” he said, referring to the faster rollout of 10, 000 doses of emergency procured AVAC live vaccines.
“You can say exponential na mapapabilis niya kasi halimbawa dito sa Batangas, kapag inuna mo yung mga commercial, mas marami agad (because it can speed up, for example, in Batangas, if you prioritize the commercial, it’s immediately more).”
De Mesa said the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI)-accredited and private laboratories may be utilized for testing the blood samples of hogs in coordination with local government units (LGUs).
“Very critical kasi na iyong mga samples kasi kukunin yan at the date bago mag-bakuna (Getting the samples is very critical because these will be taken at the date before vaccination), after 14 days, 28 days, 120 days. So napakaraming samples iyan na ite-test and limited number yung ating laboratory ngayon (there are so many samples to be tested and we have a limited number of laboratories now),” he said.
De Mesa made the statements following the issuance of Administrative Order (AO) No. 8 on October 18.
“Commercial farms interested in participating in the vaccination program must submit a letter of intent to the Department of Agriculture – Regional Field Office DA-RFO. The Local Government Units (LGUs) shall be duly notified of the farm’s intent to participate in the controlled use of vaccines,” AO 8 reads.
Authorized BAI personnel must be allowed to conduct farm inspections, alongside biosecurity measures and readiness assessments, it added.
Commercial farm veterinarians may also be allowed to collect and submit blood samples from 8 percent of their pig population for required testing, as well as continuous monitoring for the development of immunity.
Only healthy and ASF-negative growers or hogs at least six weeks of age and older may be vaccinated.
As of October 18, there are 505 red (infected) zones in 108 municipalities in 10 regions, a decrease from 534 red zones last October 2.
The areas with the highest number of red zones are North Cotabato with 140, Batangas with 75, Camarines Sur with 51, La Union with 42, and Quezon with 37. (PNA)