BAI to roll out guidelines for bird flu vaccines by September

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) is targeting to roll out new guidelines for the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) or bird flu vaccines by September amid calls from the poultry industry to speed up inoculation of infected bird population.

During the Philippine Poultry Show last week, BAI assistant director Arlene Vytiaco said the agency has already recommended for adoption the bird flu vaccination to the Department of Agriculture (DA), through senior undersecretary Domingo Panganiban.

“We’re now in the process for formulating guidelines for HPAI vaccination because it’s a complex process,” she said.

The Veterinary Technical Advisory Committee (VTAC) of BAI will come out with a draft of the new Avian Influenza Protection (AIPP) guidelines, which will go through public consultations with industry stakeholders, according to Philippine College of Poultry Practitioners (PCPP) president Generoso Romo.

“Hopefully the final draft will be submitted by BAI to the DA in August. Then hopefully by September, BAI, in cooperation with PCPP, will be able to launch the modified AIPP that will include the AI vaccination,” he said.

So far, four manufacturers have presented to the VTAC, Vytiaco said.

“If ever, we will be issuing them special import permit to bring in the vaccines soon,” she said.

While declining to identify the manufacturers, the BAI official said the four manufacturers are qualified since they are registered in their country of origin.

Once the new guidelines are out, BAI will recommend the bird flu vaccines for the approval of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for field trial purposes and for commercial use.

“We will be doing field trial for the purpose of product registration. But while the field trial is ongoing, we will also recommend for the commercialization of the vaccines, but that will be regulated by the BAI,” Vytiaco said.

“We stress the importance of post vaccination monitoring. If we do not know where the vaccines were administered, we will not be able to do proper surveillance post-vaccination,” she said.

Earlier, poultry stakeholders urged the government to speed up the procurement of the avian flu vaccine.

Philippine Egg Board Association chairman Gregorio San Diego said the bird flu vaccine should be prioritized because of the avian flu outbreak in the country.

He said neighboring countries, such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, have been implementing inoculation drives in their respective poultry sectors.

Moreover, San Diego said some industry players have started smuggling vaccines to protect their farms from the deadly bird virus.

This is one of the reasons why the BAI is fast-tracking the issuance of new guidelines for vaccination, Vytiaco said.

Meanwhile, United Broiler Raisers Association president Elias Jose Inciong said the DA should seriously study vaccination for bird flu.