The Ministry of Agriculture informed that the country started to apply the NAVET-ASFVAC vaccine, developed by Vietnamese and US scientists, against African Swine Fever (ASF), certified and validated by the US Department of Agriculture.
The head of Agriculture, Limber Cruz, affirmed that this vaccine “is totally safe, does not spread ASF, nor is it a new strain; on the contrary, it helps to eradicate ASF, by creating effective antibodies in meat pigs; it can be applied to all types of small, medium and high production standard farms, with the condition of complying with the vaccine application and biosafety prospectus.”
He said that a team of Vietnam and Animal Health technicians from Agriculture are working on a vaccination plan for meat pigs from 8 to 10 weeks of age on a smaller scale, complying with biosecurity protocols, applying appropriate procedures, generating laboratory evidence, and from there, using it on a larger scale to 100% of pigs, to move towards declaring the Dominican Republic free of African Swine Fever.
He indicated that the vaccines arrived in the country after an effective process of management and cooperation of the Government of Vietnam, in coordination with the US and the Dominican Government, which has effectively accompanied the swine sub-sector, implementing policies, financial support, integrating biosecurity and education and compensation of RD$ 1,577 million.