The Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) has finished the final draft of the guidelines on the administration of vaccines against the African swine fever (ASF) and avian influenza (AI).
The final draft has been submitted to Department of Agriculture (DA) legal team for clearance, said Joanna Marie David, BAI veterinary epidemiology section head, at the third quarter meeting of the National Sectoral Committee on Poultry and Livestock last week.
Once cleared, David said, the guidelines will be submitted to Domingo Panganiban, DA senior undersecretary.
“For the AI vaccine adaptation, there are three companies endorsed by the BAI to the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) for the importation of vaccine but as of now, there seems to be no SPS (sanitary and phytosanitary) import clearance that has been released,” David said.
Joshua Cruz of the BAI-National ASF Prevention and Control Program said the completion of trial testing for the ASF vaccine is due this week of September or early October.
The National Sectoral Committee on Poultry and Livestock also passed a resolution recommending that the FDA and BAI provide reports on the importation of 300,000 doses of ASF vaccine and its dissemination.
BAI data as of September 20 showed that nine regions, 17 provinces, 45 municipalities and 117 barangays have active ASF cases, while eight regions, 15 provinces, 77 municipalities and 165 barangays have active AI cases. – Jed Macapagal
