The Bureau of Animal Industry is making sure the proposed vaccine against the African swine fever (ASF) and avian influenza (AI) proceed without problems when these are finally launch.
At the recent third-quarter meeting of the National Sectoral Committee on Poultry and Livestock, Joanna Marie David, veterinary epidemiology section head, said this was the reason the draft guidelines had been sent to DA lawyers for clearance.
David said once the guidelines clear, DA senior undersecretary Domingo Panganiban will promptly launch the program.
According to him, the BAI supports three Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-endorsed companies but who also need to obtain so-called sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance.
Joshua Cruz of the BAI-National ASF Prevention and Control Program, said the completion of trial testing the ASF vaccine is due on the last week of September or early October.
The National Sectoral Committee on Poultry and Livestock also passed a resolution urging the FDA and the BAI to report on the importation of 300,000 doses of ASF vaccine and its dissemination.
BAI data show that as of 20 September, 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.
