The Philippines has inched closer to being declared entirely free of the highly contagious Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) plaguing hogs after the Department of Agriculture (DA) last month secured a certification from Paris-based Office International des Epizooties (OIE) recognizing two of the three zones (Zones 1 and 3) in Luzon as FMD-free without vaccination.

Secretary Bernie Fondevilla, who led the DA delegation to the 78th General Session of the World Assembly of OIE Delegates held in Paris on 23 to 28 May 2010, announced that the provinces in North and South Luzon have been recognized by the OIE as “free from foot and mouth disease where vaccination is not practiced.”

The application for an FMD-free declaration without vaccination for Luzon’s Zone 2 is now pending with the OIE.

In a Management Committee (ManCom) meeting at the DA central office yesterday morning, Fondevilla announced that the certification declaring two of three Luzon zones as already FMD-free was issued last May 27 in Paris by OIE Director General Bernard Vallat and its President Carlos A. Correa Messuti.

Fondevilla received the OIE certificate in behalf of the Philippine government.

He was accompanied to the OIE General Session by Assistant Director Victor C. Atienza of the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) and head of the National FMD Task Force, and Dr. Reildrin G. Morales, deputy head and National Coordinator of the National FMD Task Force.

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

Fondevilla said that 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 IV-A, National Capital Region and the province of Pangasinan in Region I; and Zone 3 or South Luzon includes Region IV-B and Region V.

“With the eradication of Foot and Mouth Disease (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.”

Fondevilla said the World Assembly of Delegates of the OIE approved the Philippines’ FMD-free application for Luzon’s Zone 1 and 3 based on the recommendation of the organization’s Scientific Commission for Animal Diseases.

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 Philippines’ 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 OIE certification states that the Philippines has the obligation to report immediately to OIE authorities any “significant epidemiological event related to FMD” and “to confirm annually that the epidemiological situation (in the Philippines) has remained unchanged.”