MANILA: The Department of Agriculture (DA) announced Friday the target availability of 10,000 doses of African swine fever (ASF) AVAC live vaccines in the third week of August.
The DA earlier said the emergency procurement of vaccines intended to address the ASF resurgence in Batangas may arrive by September.
“Hopefully, in the next two weeks available itong emergency purchase ng bakuna. Bagamat 10,000 doses pa lamang, malaking tulong ito (the emergency purchase of vaccines will be available. Although this is only 10,000 doses, it’s still a big help),” DA Assistant Secretary Arnel De Mesa said in an interview.
As of Friday, 38 barangays in Calatagan, Lian, Lipa City, Lobo, Rosario, San Juan, Talisay, and Tuy have reported ASF cases, according to the DA.
‘Almost 40 barangays iyong nagkaroon agad ng ASF sa walong bayan ng Batangas, medyo mabilis ito. Kaya’t nag-utos agad si Secretary Kiko (Francisco) Tiu Laurel Jr., kailangan nilang magdagdag ng checkpoints na mayroon sila ngayon para mapigilan (have alread
y logged ASF in eight towns in Batangas, that’s somewhat fast. That’s why Secretary Laurel ordered to increase the number of checkpoints to prevent further spread),” De Mesa said.
He also underscored the urgency of vaccine rollout considering the nearly 1 million hog population in the said province.
‘That’s practically 10 percent of the existing hog population na mayroon tayo sa buong bansa (that the entire country has). And it’s very important na (that) we need to protect the remaining hogs,” De Mesa said, noting the depopulation of 1,523 heads in the affected areas.
The Calabarzon region, which includes Batangas, serves as the country’s second largest source of pork following Central Luzon.
Besides emergency procurement of ASF vaccines and more stringent biosecurity measures, the DA has also intensified its mass testing efforts and distribution of industrial lime to prevent further spread.
Its repopulation efforts and indemnification worth PHP5,000 per head are also ongoing to support affected hog rais
ers.
To date, the country’s hog population dropped to 9.9 million from 12.7 million during the pre-ASF period.
State of emergency
Propork chairperson and AGAP Partylist Rep. Nicanor Briones, meanwhile, urged the government to declare a national state of emergency to tap the country’s calamity fund for ASF vaccine procurement.
‘Ngayon pa lang dapat nagdeklara na ng state of emergency ng national. Para sa ganun, makapaglaan agad ang national government ng PHP5.4 billion para bakunahan lahat (The national government should declare a national state of emergency right now so that it can allot PHP5.4 billion for mass vaccination),’ he said in a separate zoom interview.
Briones said this is needed to curb the possible effects of the outbreak on supply, and spike on pork prices from September to December.
He added the DA’s current fund for ASF vaccines is not enough since PHP3.5 billion is needed for backyard raisers alone.
The DA earlier allocated a PHP350-million fund for the procurement of 600,000 doses of
ASF AVAC live vaccines for its government-controlled vaccination in the third quarter of the year.
De Mesa, however, said not all areas in the country are affected by the ASF and there remains a stable supply of pork in the country.
‘Hindi naman buong bansa iyong mayroon (Not the entire country is affected), the Secretary will check on the merit,’ he said.
As of Aug. 8, some 22 provinces in 11 regions have logged ASF cases in the country, according to the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI).
Among the provinces with the highest number of affected barangays include North Cotabato with 62, Occidental Mindoro with 57, Batangas with 38, Sultan Kudarat with 22, Quezon with 17, and La Union with 14.
Source: Philippines News Agency