DA sets ‘rules of engagement’ for ASF gov’t-controlled vaccination

By Stephanie Sevillano, Philippine News Agency

Higher indemnification is valued at PHP4,000 per piglet, PHP8,000 per medium-sized pig, and PHP12,000 for the big-sized ones. (Pixabay photo)

MANILA – The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Thursday announced its “rules of engagement” for the government-controlled vaccination against African swine fever (ASF) in preparation for the rollout of the 10,000 doses of emergency procured ASF AVAC live vaccines in Batangas that are expected to arrive on Aug. 16.

In a phone interview, DA Assistant Secretary Dante Palabrica said they would discuss the ASF vaccination guidelines with the local government unit (LGU) and hog industry stakeholders on Friday.

“Pagpunta namin sa site, ile-lay down namin yung rules of engagement sa site, sa Batangas. Ito nga iyong sinabi kong mga rules na gagawin ay kailangang umagree muna ang farmers (When we go to the site, we will first lay down the rules of engagement in Batangas. This is what I’ve said that farmers should first agree with the rules),” he said.

Palabrica said under the rules of engagement, farmers must agree with the DA’s requisites and conditions throughout the monitoring.

Subject hogs must neither be previously infected nor show any symptoms of ASF, he said.

“Kapag walang sakit, mayroon mga prosesong gagawin. Pipirma sila ng condition at babakunahan namin (Certain procedures will be conducted if the hogs are not infected [The farmers] will have to sign the conditions before we vaccinate [the hogs]),” Palabrica said, citing initial blood sampling as a baseline for progress monitoring.

Besides this, ASF vaccines should only be given to growers, or hogs between four and 22 weeks old.

“Hindi pwede itong ibigay sa breeders o iyong mga paanaking mga inahin (It could not be administered to breeders or breeding sows),” he said.

Likewise, stringent monitoring among volunteer ASF vaccine beneficiaries will be implemented for the reference of the technical advisory group.

“Kailangan i-monitor namin at testing-in every 30 to 60 days kung ano ang reaction sa bakuna. Makita namin ang level ng antibodies niya (We need to monitor and test every 30 to 60 days to assess their reaction to the vaccine and check the level of antibodies),” Palabrica added.

Reports of initial observations of the Bureau of Animal Industry, Food and Drug Administration, as well as private stakeholders, will be submitted to the independent technical advisory group for recommendation if the vaccine rollout would push through or be halted.

“Kapag hindi maganda ang result, cancel lahat. Kapag maganda ang result, dahan-dahan na naming dadagdagan ang mga babakunahan (If the results are not good, we will cancel [the vaccination]. If the results are good, we will gradually increase the population to be vaccinated),” he said.

Overall, the DA targets to distribute 600,000 doses of ASF live vaccines for the government-controlled vaccination.

Compliant hog raisers, meanwhile, are assured of indemnification in case of fatality among vaccinated hogs.

Higher indemnification is valued at PHP4,000 per piglet, PHP8,000 per medium-sized pig, and PHP12,000 for the big-sized ones.

During the Malacañang Insider interview, DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the target vaccine rollout for the 10,000 doses in Batangas is Aug. 20.