PH eyes FDA nod for ASF vaccines by April

The Philippine government is aiming for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve African Swine Fever (ASF) vaccines for commercial use by April.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) have administered 28,000 of the 160,000 available ASF vaccine doses.

DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. has instructed that commercial approval for the Vietnam-made vaccines should be secured within April.

The BAI has conducted controlled vaccinations on 29 farms in Luzon and has received a certificate of product registration from the FDA for monitored release.

Despite 51 hogs dying after vaccination, officials maintain that the vaccine is generally showing a positive response with only a small portion of the vaccinated hog population succumbing.