P 1-B BUDGET NEEDED FOR ASF VACCINE

The Department of Agriculture (DA) will seek a budget of about P1 billion from the national government to inoculate all hogs nationwide against the African swine fever (ASF), its top official said.

“We will recommend a budget of almost a billion pesos to have all our hogs in the whole country vaccinated by this ASF vaccine,” said Agriculture Secretary William Dar, estimating the country’s hog population at more than 9 million.

The DA collaborated with Universal Robina Corp. and Thailand’s Chulalongkorn University, which formulated a vaccine against this animal disease. The vaccine can be stored in a wide range of temperature with a shelf life of two to six months.

The first phase of the vaccine trial, which took place at the Robina Farm in Bulacan, sought to determine the safety and ability of the vaccine to induce immune responses following vaccination.

The agency earlier reported that the first round of vaccine testing, which ran from February to May, exhibited positive results.

“In the trial, no clinical sign associated with ASF disease was observed and minimal non-ASF related mortality was posted. A total of 66 percent of sample animals have detectable antibodies to the ASF virus,” Dar said.

Revival in 5 years

The second phase of the vaccine trial will entail the actual viral challenge of vaccinated animals. The planned testing, which will last from May to June, will mimic field infection among adult female swines and pigs from other areas.

If proven effective, Dar said the DA would recommend to the president the vaccination of the country’s hog population at the expense of the national government.

“The hog sector has been severely affected since 2019. Most of the pigs in the Philippines, especially in Luzon, have died. Because of this, Robina Farms is determined to come up with a solution to this problem so we agreed to test the vaccine,” said Robina Farm operations director Dante Palabrica.

Palabrica expressed confidence that with the “game-changer” ASF vaccine, the country’s hog population could be revived in the next five years.

“We want to work with the DA to quickly repopulate the hog industry in the Philippines,” he said in support of the DA’s hog repopulation program.