DEPARTMENT of Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel expressed optimism that a vaccine for African Swine Fever (ASF) that has been hounding the hog industry since 2019 will be available in the country before year end.

He said a Vietnamese and an American company are now seeking Food and Drug Administration accreditation for their ASF vaccines while another Vietnamese firm and Thai firm are also planning to apply for vaccine approval.

“The good news is there are already vaccines that are on the way that may be accredited within the year by the FDA with assistance from DA. Hopefully, we can eradicate ASF by next year,” he added.

ASF has greatly reduced local swine production, with year-end inventory falling from a record high of 12.8 million hogs in 2020 to 9.94 million heads in 2021.

Most of the reduction came from small holds whose inventory dropped to 7.18 million in 2022 from a high of 9.44 million in 2020.

At the end of September last year, total inventory declined to 9.86 million heads from 10.1 million in the same period in 2022.

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Cory Martinez