Pinoyagribusiness

Source: Manila bulletin.com

CEBU CITY — A locally developed vaccine that can considerably help reduce the incidence of a deadly disease attacking poultry is set to be more extensively used in the Visayas and some areas in Mindanao.


Plans for expanding the use of the vaccine against Newcastle Disease (ND) in central and southern Philippines are now being finalized, according to the Bureau of Agricultural Research of the Department of Agriculture.

Initially, the vaccines are being distributed to backyard native chicken raisers in Central Visayas through the provincial veterinary offices of Region 7.

The vaccine was the product of a research project undertaken by the DA Regional Field Unit 7 (RFU 7) and the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI).

BAR headed by Director Nicomedes P. Eleazar supported the project, including laboratory and field experiments, through a research grant for poultry and livestock program. A Japanese volunteer and filipino researchers assisted in generating the technology on vaccine production.

The research team is headed by Dr. Rachel B. Cadeliña, agricultural center chief of the DA-RFU 7 Biologics Vaccine Production Laboratory in Cebu City.

The team, reported BAR’s Dr. Marlowe Aquino, has been working on the vaccine for the past three years.

Recently, a report on the project titled "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).

Initial results of the research showed that the vaccine, which is much cheaper than the commercially prepared ones, can considerably help eradicate ND even within the free range production management system of native chicken.

To be successful, BAR stressed, native chicken raisers must strictly follow clean and sanitized system and incorporate the ND vaccine’s use for better production efficiency.

"Given the utility and application of the local ND vaccines, a 100 percent survival rate is expected when applied properly compared to zero for unvaccinated native chicken during production management," wrote Dr. Aquino.

Native chicken has long been the main source of meat and eggs in rural areas. It constitutes 57 percent of the country’s total poultry production.

The main factor that limits and could potentially downgrade native chicken production in the country is the prevalence of Newcastle Disease.

Endemic in almost all regions of the country, it is a highly infectious viral disease that affects poultry and other birds, attacking mostly the lungs and nervous system. Commercial chicken flocks affected by it could immediately incur 90 to 100 percent mortality rate.

While vaccination is the most effective preventive measure against ND, it is not a common practice among backyard poultry raisers, the DA-RFU 7 noted. It is because vaccines are expensive and are not readily available since they are mostly imported.

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. Region 7 accounts for 9.35 percent of the country’s poultry production.