SHIC Weighs in on First Commercially Approved African Swine Fever Vaccines
NAVET-ASFVAC by Navetco Central Veterinary Medicine Company and AVAC ASF LIVE by AVAC Vietnam Joint Stock Company are the world’s first commercial vaccines against African swine fever (ASF) following the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Vietnam's official approval for domestic commercial use.
The Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) reports that confirmed sources at Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said these vaccines will be available for purchase by Vietnamese farmers and will not be provided by the government. The estimated cost of the vaccines is approximately $1.50 per dose.
The two vaccines have differing rules for use surrounding the age of piglets at administration and duration of immunity, SHIC pointed out in its monthly newsletter.
Both vaccine companies worked with specialized agencies and other collaborators to test the vaccines. Phan Quang Minh, Deputy Director of Vietnam’s Department of Animal Health, said that up to this point, the pilot vaccination of 600,000 doses of ASF vaccine has given positive results on a small scale of the two companies NAVETCO and AVAC JSC Vietnam.
Still, several significant challenges related to the successful implementation of the vaccine remain unresolved, SHIC reported.
One of the challenges is a lack of a DIVA (differentiating infected from vaccinated animals) feature in both vaccines, making it difficult to distinguish vaccinated animals from infected ones.
In addition, the absence of an effective molecular surveillance system to monitor the circulation of wild and vaccine variants in the pig population is a challenge. Surveillance is crucial for understanding the virus’s dynamics and the vaccine’s efficacy.
Finally, the industry needs a sustainable plan for documenting and assessing the vaccine’s effectiveness in real-world scenarios. SHIC said this requires robust reporting systems to gather accurate data on the vaccine’s status and outbreak reports, helping to evaluate its impact on the target population thoroughly.
