ASF vaccine potentially becoming available by the end of the year

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. recently announced that the wait for an African swine fever (ASF) vaccine, which has ravaged over three million pigs in the Philippines, might soon be over. Laurel mentioned that two companies, one Vietnamese and one American, are seeking regulatory approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for their vaccines, with two more firms from Vietnam and Thailand planning to follow suit. He expressed hope that these vaccines could be accredited within the year, potentially paving the way for the eradication of ASF by the following year.

The Philippines has been struggling with ASF since its first outbreak in 2019. The disease has led to a significant reduction in the domestic hog population, resulting in soaring pork prices and prompting government interventions to stabilize the market. Although hog production showed signs of recovery in 2023, it still falls short of pre-ASF levels due to ongoing threats of the disease.

According to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), hog output increased by 3.3 percent to 1.79 million metric tons in 2023, marking the highest production in three years. However, this output remains below the average of 2.25 million metric tons recorded from 2016 to 2019. Experts attribute the slow repopulation of hogs to the absence of an authorized and commercially available ASF vaccine.

The FDA established a task force dedicated to evaluating ASF vaccines in the country, but as of the announcement, no applications for domestic use of ASF vaccine had been received. The potential accreditation of these vaccines by the FDA could offer hope for the swine industry and contribute to efforts to combat ASF and restore hog production in the Philippines.

News: ASF vaccine potentially becoming available by the end of the year