USDA's Agricultural Research Service announced Thursday that one of its vaccine candidates can prevent and protect against African swine fever. Specifically, the vaccine shows effectiveness against the current Asian and European strains of the virus.
The findings also show that a commercial partner can replicate experimental-level results and prevent the spread of the virus. The onset of immunity was revealed in approximately one-third of the swine by the second week post-vaccination, with full protection in all swine achieved by the fourth week.
The announcement follows a previous announcement this week that USDA is providing $500 million in funding for preparation and prevention regarding African swine fever. To date, 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 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.