The Department of Agriculture (DA) said Monday it is optimistic that the vaccines against the African swine fever (ASF) will be released by the third quarter of the year, with the latest tests now awaiting approval from third-party experts.
According to Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., the vaccines have undergone genome sequencing and have been brought to third-party experts for approval.
“Kung pumasa na sa kanila ‘to, hopefully next month, magbigay na sila ng okay, then ifu-fully endorse na namin sa FDA (Food and Drug Administration) ‘to hopefully by July,” he said.
“Kung positive ho ‘yung answer or ang feedback ng mga dalubhasa na third party na ginamit natin, siguro before third quarter labas to,” he added.
Officials of the DA, the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), and the FDA met on May 19 to discuss updates on the ASF and avian influenza (AI) vaccine candidates, in efforts to protect the swine and poultry sectors.
In March, Tiu Laurel said the country had 8 million hogs, compared to nearly 14 million prior to the ASF outbreak. He has since called on industry stakeholders to restore the population.
DA spokesperson and assistant secretary Arnel de Mesa earlier said the department is already seeing signs of recovery in the local hog industry, but it would take another two to three years before the country’s swine population returns to its pre-ASF levels.
