May 26, 2009

The Philippine government will apply to the World Organization for Animal Health (known by its French acronym OIE) in 2010 to remove Luzon island in the list of areas with foot and mouth disease (FMD) following a failure to secure a certification this year.

 

In February, the government applied for the certification of Pangasinan and provinces in central Luzon, except for Aurora, and Calabarzon as FMD-free with vaccination, while the rest of Luzon as FMD- free without vaccination.

 

The country filed for the restoration of its FMD-free status in the Luzon island last year but was retained in the list of countries with FMD due to a missing blood test.

 

Reildrin G. Morales, deputy head of the National FMD Task Force admitted that there were complications in the requirements of the OIE code in vaccinations.

 

The OIE required that 80 percent of hog farmers in an area should use vaccines. Only 20 percent of central Luzon is using vaccines.

 

FMD is a highly contagious viral disease that infects cloven-hoofed animals. The local livestock sector lost about P2.3 billion from the 1995 outbreak to 2005 because of the disease, data from the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) show.

 

The OIE also did not accept the country's application because "areas without vaccination is in the upper and lower parts of Luzon so transport of hogs [to other parts] is possible," said Morales, adding that the government allows the transport of boars and sows to let other regions re- stock.

 

Top hog-producing region central Luzon accounted for 15.5 percent or 287,974 tonnes of the total hog output last year, data from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics show.

 

However, hog farmers want a backup supply of FMD vaccines.

 

Morales said the agency will have a vaccine bank to prevent further spread of FMD.

 

Government officials and hog industry stakeholders said the FMD-free status would facilitate trade.

 

Albert R. T. Lim, Jr., president of the National Federation of Hog Farmers, Inc., concurred, saying that "we can also sell hogs and pork to other countries if they are interested."

 

Meanwhile, production costs for pork will go down as hog farmers usually spend P32-P35 per vaccine.

 

Next month, the OIE will send experts to help the country prepare documents, BAI Director Davinio P. Catbagan said in a separate phone interview.

 

The OIE certified Mindanao as FMD-free without vaccination in May 2001, while Visayas, Palawan and Masbate followed in May 2002.