Vietnam leaders are hopeful that they will successfully produce a vaccine to administer to pigs to fight African swine fever (ASF), a deadly disease that impacts swine.
According to Reuters, Vietnam leaders are intent on being the first country to commercially produce and export such a vaccine. However, production isn’t yet done, a U.S. expert point out.
This vaccine is being developed by USDA researchers in collaboration with NAVETCO, a Vietnam-based company for commercial development in Vietnam. NAVETCO has been partnering with USDA Agricultural Research Service scientists on ASF vaccine research and development since 2020. Further production will continue once the vaccine candidate receives regulatory approval from Vietnam.
Deputy agriculture minister Phung Duc Tien said this is a milestone in the veterinary industry. Immunity is expected to last six months, Reuters reports.
Tien did not provide a timeframe for when the vaccine could be exported or estimate of Vietnam’s production capacity. Although the ASF outbreak has subsided in Vietnam, allowing farmers to rebuild hog herds, the virus is still hurting farms in some countries.
In late April, this vaccine candidate passed an important safety test required for regulatory approval in the U.S. These results showed this vaccine candidate does not revert to its normal virulence, after being injected into swine. This “reversion to virulence” test is required to ensure that the vaccine’s weakened form of the ASF virus does not revert to its original state, USDA said.
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