Potential African Swine Fever vaccine developed

Decimating the international pig industry, ASF has been reported in more than 55 countries, with China particularly affected. Although it doesn’t impact humans, it is highly contagious and can be spread via contaminated feed and pork products, as well as shoes, clothes, vehicles, knives, equipment, the movement of infected livestock and across wild boar populations.

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First reported in Frontiers in Veterinary Science, the potential vaccine looks to tackle the latter form of exposure although further studies are needed.

“African Swine Fever is of enormous concern to the pig industry,” said Dr Jose Angel Barasona, a researcher at the VISAVET Health Surveillance Centre in Madrid and co-author of the study. “Our study demonstrates the effectiveness of the first oral vaccine against this disease on Eurasian wild boar. Overall, we demonstrate that oral immunisation of wild boar conferred 92% protection against a highly pathogenic strain of African Swine Fever, which is currently circulating in Asia and Europe.

Full read on: GlobalMeatNews