As African Swine Fever (ASF) remains a problem in the country, an ASF diagnostic kit is set to be launched for a wide-scale verification trial.
This will be led by the Department of Science and Technology - Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic, and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCAARRD), Central Luzon State University (CLSU), and the Bureau of Agricultural Industry (BAI).
The wide-scale verification trial will be done to ascertain the reliability of the ASF quick diagnostic kit. The kit is a nano gold loop mediated thermal amplification (LAMP) technology-based quick test kit that was developed by CLSU with BAI to address ASF disease.
The DOST said that it showed very promising results during initial laboratory trials. To date, the validation of the test kit is ongoing and significant results are expected by the 1st quarter of 2021.
The swine industry, which contributes about 14 percent of the gross value added in agriculture, is faced with the challenge of ASF disease, characterized by more than 90 percent morbidities and mortalities. The ASF has affected several swine producing regions in Luzon and Mindanao and has caused significant reduction in the pig inventories and production in affected areas.
In addition to the validation of the locally developed ASF diagnostic kit, the DOST-PCAARRD is also partnering with the BAI in information campaigns related to the establishment of ASF compliant biosecurity protocols for small swine farms through virtual meetings and webinars.
The DOST-PCAARRD is also partnering with CLSU and Central Bicol State University of Agriculture (CBSUA), together with the University of Queensland (UQ), through the small research activity (SRA) of Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) in the development of the ASF socio-economic impact assessment (ASF-SELIA) protocol.
The ASF-SELIA project is expected to be completed by the end of this month.