The U.S. Department of Agriculture?s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) says one of its vaccine candidates can prevent and protect against African swine fever.
Reports say the vaccine shows effectiveness against the current Asian and European strains of ASF. The findings also show that a commercial partner can replicate experimental-level results and prevent the spread of the virus.
USDA?s announcement follows a previous report this week that USDA is providing $500 million in funding for preparation and prevention regarding ASF. The funding announcement was praised by Dr. Liz Wagstrom, chief veterinarian with the National Pork Producers Council.
?We’ve been very pleased with Secretary Vilsack?s response to African Swine Fever in the Western Hemisphere with the Dominican Republic and Haiti,? said Wagstrom. ?And so, the effort they?ve put into declaring Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands a protection zone was very important.?
Wagstrom added that NPPC appreciates officials hard work in preventing an ASF infection from getting into the US.
?This Secretary and his USDA-APHIS staff have been really great to work with,? said Wagstrom. ?We’re on the phone with them multiple times a week. We have worked with Congress to try to appropriate our funds. And so, for this commitment, after all the work that NPPC has done to try to really put together enough funds to make a difference on helping protect our pork industry, this is a very gratifying announcement.?
To date, USDA ARS has successfully engineered and patented five ASF experimental vaccines and has fully executed seven licenses with pharmaceutical companies to develop the vaccines. A commercial vaccine for the ASF virus will be an important part of controlling ASF in outbreak areas.
All U.S. vaccine candidates have to go through the APHIS regulatory approval process for use in U.S. swine.
