The Philippine Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) authorized the commercial sale of AVAC ASF LIVE, the country’s first African swine fever (ASF) vaccine approved for fattening pigs.
Developed by Vietnam’s AVAC, it is a live attenuated, gene-deleted vaccine. Approval comes nearly seven years after ASF first reached the Philippines, where the swine herd fell from around 13 million head before the outbreak to approximately 8 million. The disease has now been detected in 76 of the country’s 82 provinces.
Vaccination will form part of a broader repopulation strategy that includes disease surveillance, biosecurity, movement controls and targeted restocking. A second vaccine, South Korea’s PROVAC, is under evaluation and could become available next year, according to the Philippine Department of Agriculture.
