RP nears FMD-free status

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Agriculture (DA) obtained last month a certification from Paris-based Office International des Epizooties (OIE) recognizing North and South Luzon as free from foot and mouth disease (FMD) without vaccination.

Agriculture Secretary Bernie Fondevilla said OIE Director General Bernard Vallat and OIE president Carlos A. Correa Messuti issued last May 27 a certificate declaring two of three Luzon zones as FMD-free.

The application for an FMD-free declaration without vaccination for the remaining areas in Luzon is now pending with the OIE.

Mindanao and Visayas along with the island provinces of Palawan and Masbate were declared by the OIE as FMD-free without vaccination in 2001 and 2002 respectively.

To facilitate the Philippines’ application for an FMD-free declaration by the OIE, the DA had subdivided Luzon into three areas. Zone 1 or North Luzon comprises the Cordillera Administrative Region, Region II, and the province of Aurora in Region III and Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur and La Union in Region I.

Zone 2 or Mid-Luzon covers Region III except the province of Aurora, Region IVA, National Capital Region and the province of Pangasinan in Region I.

Zone 3 or South Luzon includes Region IVB and Region V.

“With the eradication of FMD in the country, the pending recognition of Luzon from the OIE is another welcome development in the livestock sector,” Fondevilla said. “It is expected that overall production in the swine sector will be expanded and new market opportunities for exporting hogs will open up for the Philippines.”

Tapping the expertise of the OIE, he said the DA will carry out in June a gap analysis mission “to review the development in the services and competencies of the Philip-pines’ veterinary services,” as part of government efforts to further enhance the global competitiveness of the country’s livestock sector.

“A technical working group from the Philippines has been assigned to work with the representatives of the OIE on devising a strategic plan for this purpose,” he said.

The country has maintained its FMD-free status for the last 53 months since the last recorded outbreak on Dec. 28, 2005 in Quezon province.

The FMD outbreak that struck the Philippines in 1995 had reached epidemic proportions spreading to 27 provinces and setting the highest number of recorded outbreaks in one year with 1,553 outbreaks.