The Philippines is reportedly starting the controlled vaccination of pigs against African swine fever, after importing 150,000 doses of Vietnam’s AVAC ASF vaccine.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) was due to start vaccination at Lobo, Batangas, the ‘ground zero’ of problematic ASF outbreaks on Friday, Philstar global reports.
Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said 10,000 doses of ASF vaccine acquired through emergency procurement would be used to inoculate pigs in the area. He said the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) and local veterinarians have completed testing pigs covered by the vaccination program.
“It’s all systems go for the vaccination in Lobo. Those (hogs) tested were negative (for ASF) and healthy. The vaccination will proceed at 9am,” Mr De Mesa said on August 30.
Mr De Mesa said the vaccination would be administered by a licensed veterinarian under the supervision of BAI personnel and the municipal veterinarian and will only cover pigs raised in backyard farms.
After Batangas, the vaccination will prioritise other infected areas, including Laguna, Mindoro, Quezon and Rizal as well as North Cotabato.
De Mesa said another 150,000 doses of ASF vaccine will arrive in the country next week.
The latest shipment is part of a wider order of 600,000 doses of the AVAC vaccine, which was approved for domestic use in Vietnam last year, but has not yet been approved internationally.
AVAC General Director Nguyen Van Diep said the company has supplied about 2.3 million doses to the domestic market and exported 305,000 doses, including 300,000 doses to the Philippines, so far, and 5,000 to Nigeria.
After importing 300,000 doses of the AVAC vaccine in July 2023, the Philippines organised a 3-phase vaccine evaluation on 30 large-scale farms with 150,000 pigs. All vaccinated pigs are safe and protected, prompting the Philippines to accept AVAC’s ASF LIVE vaccine, VNE Express International reports.
The company is registering for circulating its vaccine in countries such as India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Myanmar and Nigeria, the VNE report adds.
Philippines’ move to address its ASF problem in this way has raised some eyebrows, given that the vaccine has not yet been approved internationally.
Arab News reports that In October 2023, the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) issued a statement warning veterinary authorities and the pig industry of the ‘risk from use of sub-standard vaccines’, although it did not specifically mention Vietnam.