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Philippines: Newcastle Disease vaccine set for expanded use
In Philippines, a locally
developed vaccine that can considerably help reduce the occurrence of Newcastle
Disease attacking poultry is set to be more widely used in the Visayas and some
areas in Mindanao, Philippines.
According to
the Bureau of Agricultural Research of the Department of Agriculture, plans to
expand the use of the vaccine against Newcastle
Disease (ND)
in central and southern
Philippines are now being finalised.
The vaccine
is the product of a research project which was undertaken by the DA Regional
Field Unit 7 (RFU 7) and the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI).
Winning Newcastle Disease
Vaccine
Recently, a report on the project entitled "Efficacy of
locally-developed Inactivated Oil Emulsion Newcastle Disease Vaccine in Native
Chicken" won the 2007 PSAS (Philippine Society of Animal Science) award (Health
and Welfare category).
Research showed that the vaccine
is cheaper than the commercially prepared ones, and can considerably help
eliminate ND - even within the free range production management system of native
chicken.
According to Dr. Aquino who has been working on
the vaccine for 3 years,
"Given the utility and
application of the local ND vaccines, a 100% survival rate
is expected when applied properly compared to zero for unvaccinated native chicken during
production management."
Native chicken has long been the
main source of meat and eggs in rural areas. It constitutes 57% of the country's
total poultry production.
Vaccination is the most
effective preventive measure against Newcastle Disease; it is not a common
practice among backyard poultry raisers, the DA-RFU 7 noted. This is due to
vaccines being expensive and are mostly imported, making them not readily
available.
With the new
vaccine, the DA-Central Visayas Integrated Agricultural Research Center
(CENVIARC) expects to vaccinate most of the upgraded native chicken population
in Central Visayas.
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Editor WorldPoultry
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