December 11, 2006

Merial Philippines promotes FMD vaccine for local breeds

As the threat of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) continues to hound the local swine industry, breeders are intensely keeping up measures to keep it from spreading further.  One procedure is the bio-security which includes thoroughly cleansing the facilities and tools that may carry the virus. 

Unfortunately, foot and mouth disease can be spread airborne making it much more difficult to contain, thus the need for proper vaccination.

Immunisation of susceptible animals is an effective defence against disease and raisers are more confident of the livestock that they market. However, they refuse vaccines that come from countries that are not FMD-free and will only use that is best suit the local pigs.

Aftopor, a product of Merial Philippines, is the most trusted and used by local breeders for it is the only vaccine in the market that contains the local FMD virus 'Isolate 01 Philippines' isolated from local cases in 1998. Aftopor then, is the only vaccine made especially for domestic hogs.

The continuous vaccination of their livestock is the breeders' way of endowing their care for their consumers. The highly conservative farmers usually do mass vaccination to 100 percent of their pigs quarterly, a stricter routine than the twice a year prescription of the government.

With the country's FMD status, Luzon is the only region that is still not yet declared FMD-free. With the joint efforts of the government and the local breeders, however, the Philippines is getting closer to be totally free from the disease.