DA assures strategic ASF vaccination for Batangas rollout

MANILA – The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Tuesday assured strategic vaccination to eligible farmers' hogs against African swine fever (ASF) in Batangas.

The assurance was made after the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) conducted its first orientation of the government-controlled vaccination using 10,000 doses of emergency procured ASF vaccines in the province, with the municipality of Lobo as the first area set for rollout.

In a phone interview, DA Assistant Secretary Arnel De Mesa underscored the need for a clustered rollout to prevent vaccine wastage.

"Kailangan clustered iyong mga backyard, naka-mapa iyon para hindi masayang iyong bakuna. Kasi, syempre pag nabuksan iyon, kailangan na iturok agad at may temperature requirement (The backyard farms should be clustered. They should be mapped to avoid vaccine wastage because once the vaccine vial is opened, it should be immediately administered. There is also a temperature requirement)," De Mesa said.

"Ito yung mga kino-consider at kailangan naka-strategize mabuti para ma-maximize natin iyong bakuna at hindi masayang (These are what we are considering and there is a need to properly strategize to maximize the vaccines and avoid wastage)."

He reiterated that only healthy hogs are eligible for ASF vaccinations.

Eligible hogs will be subjected to blood sampling before vaccination and will be followed by stringent monitoring for progress assessment.

More than 160 small-hold, semi-commercial, and commercial farmers attended the initial orientation in Lobo, and signified their intent to join the ASF vaccinations.

De Mesa said Lobo was the first area to declare a state of emergency, and its raisers were among the most active and supportive of the vaccination program.

He, however, said BAI's validation process includes strict adherence to requirements on biosecurity measures.

De Mesa said BAI is now looking into the possible augmentation of manpower for the vaccine rollout, alongside the utilization of more laboratories to fully monitor the vaccinated pigs.

"Iyan nga iyong pinag-uusapan kasi itong bakuna ay dapat (That's what we are discussing because the vaccines should be) administered by BAI – if there is a need to deputize additional veterinarians to help in the vaccination rollout," he said.

"Kasi hindi lang ito iyong (This is not just) vaccination per se. We also need to get blood samples. We also need to test on a regular basis."

The DA, meanwhile, is also set to launch its orientation and vaccination efforts in Lipa and Taysan. (PNA)