BACOLOD CITY: Amid reports of African swine fever cases in Negros Occidental, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson told The Manila Times on Monday, June 5, that the provincial government may consider buying vaccines for ASF.

That is if the vaccines are cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are made available in the market.

“I will also encourage the commercial farms to buy the vaccines,” said Lacson, reacting to reports that a Vietnam-made vaccine has been endorsed to the FDA for the issuance of a Certificate of Product Registration.

The Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) recently announced the positive result of the testing held from March to May in six areas in Luzon.

BAI assistant director Arlene Vytiaco said they are pushing for the AVAC vaccine after a successful trial on pigs that produced antibodies.

Negros Occidental is currently hit by a spate of hog deaths and a confirmed case of ASF.

As of June 4, pig deaths in the province due to various illnesses have reached 10,004 or 8.84 percent of the hog population, a report from the Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) showed.

The PVO also placed the damage to the hog industry at P114 million.

However, the provincial government has not yet declared an outbreak for ASF.

Vytiaco said that the AVAC vaccine would help in the government’s campaign against the highly contagious ASF disease.

“It will be a big help in controlling ASF as we know that the outbreak of the disease persists, so many swine stakeholders are waiting for an effective vaccine against ASF,” she said.

She also said that the BAI targets the importation of 600,000 doses of the ASF vaccine this year once it gets the green light from the FDA.

Dr. Jonic Natividad, regulatory chief of the Department of Agriculture in Western Visayas, said they are hopeful that the national government will subsidize the purchase of vaccines for backyard hog raisers once it is made available in the market.

“If it is given free by the national government it would be better for the farmers. I believe the national government can afford to provide it for free,” Natividad said.

Natividad, meanwhile, appealed to hog raisers to strictly observe biosecurity measures in their farms.

“We call on their cooperation and vigilance. Report immediately if they have hog deaths,” he said.