DA: Nearly 500,000 ASF vaccine doses administered since 2024

Nearly 500,000 doses of vaccine against African swine fever (ASF) have been administered since 2024 as the government steps up efforts to revive the country's hog industry, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said.

The DA's Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) administered 499,008 of the 500,000 doses allocated under its ASF vaccination program from 2024 to the first half of 2026.

"Vaccination must move faster and reach more farms if we are to make our repopulation program work. The goal is not just to contain ASF but to rebuild the swine industry to where it was before the disease struck," Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said in a statement.

The vaccination campaign covered 54 farms in seven provinces, with Tarlac accounting for the largest number of vaccinated hogs at 287,620.

Batangas followed with 92,021 pigs, while Bulacan recorded 88,107.

Hogs in Rizal, Laguna, Quezon and Pampanga were also covered by the vaccination drive.

Despite the campaign, active ASF infections remained in 236 barangays across 23 provinces as of Oct. 22, the DA said.

However, 716 cities and municipalities had been reclassified as buffer or surveillance zones, the department added.

The country's ASF vaccination program gained momentum following the BAI's approval of the commercial sale of a vaccine developed in Vietnam.

The BAI's approval paved the way for the vaccine's wider commercial use in the country.

Meanwhile, the DA is eyeing the approval of ASF vaccines from South Korea and the United States by 2027.

The additional vaccines are expected to expand the country's options for protecting hog populations against the disease.— MCG, GMA News

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