Promising candidate vaccine against African swine fever • Farm Policy News

Bloomberg’s Mike Dorning reported last week that “The US Department of Agriculture has potentially found a vaccine to fight African swine fever [ASF], a disease that devastated herds of pigs in China and was recently detected in Dominican Republic and Haiti, the agency said Thursday.

“The vaccine, which officials described as’promising, provided immunity to one-third of pigs in two weeks and full protection to all animals in four weeks, according to a to study. “

The Bloomberg article noted that “This” could play an important role in controlling the ongoing epidemic threatening the global pork supply, “said Douglas Gladue, a USDA researcher who co-authored the study. “

Also last week, DTN writer Todd Neeley reported that, “One of the many African swine fever vaccine candidates has successfully blocked of European and Asian farmed pigs against the circulating Asian strain, the USDA said Thursday.

USDA research by Agricultural Research Service scientists highlighted in the journal Transboundary and Emerging Diseases shows that a particular vaccine candidate can also be produced commercially and maintain its ‘vaccine efficacy’ against Asian strains of ASF when tested on European and Asian pig breeds, the USDA said in a press release.

“The results show that the vaccine could be reproduced and prevent the spread of the virus, the agency said.

Mr. Neeley noted that “ASF has resulted in the rapid slaughter of millions of pigs in China in late 2018 and early 2019, reducing the world’s largest pig herd by as much as 40% and get China to basically rebuild its entire pork industry in the process. The ripple effect has led to a high volume of global pork exports to China, including from the United States, in response. “

“Germany was initially affected by ASF in their feral pig population Last year, who effectively cut exports from the country. German authorities have reported that ASF has been found on at least three farms, affecting domestic pigs“, the DTN article said.

Meanwhile at a separate DTN article last week, Mr. Neeley reported that, “USDA allocates billions of dollars to prevent the spread of African swine fever, strengthen disaster programs in response to drought affecting livestock herders and farmers facing market disruptions.

“The the agency announced on Wednesday plans to tap funds from Commodity Credit Corp. as part of what the USDA calls a “global investment program”.

“The USDA plan will designate up to $ 500 million prevent the spread of African swine fever by expand and coordinate monitoring, surveillance, prevention, quarantine and eradication activities by USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service“, the DTN article said.

And Bloomberg writer Jim Wyss reported last week that, “since there is no cure or cure for ASF, mass slaughter is one of the few ways to control the disease. The Dominican Republic has already shot down more than 65,700 pigs this year as he tries to avoid a repeat of a 1970s epidemic that led him to exterminate his entire pig herd – more than 1.4 million animals. China has struggled with multiple epidemics since the disease was first detected there in 2018. ASF is now present in 50 countries across Africa, Europe and Asia

“‘It could easily be the most serious animal health crisis of our generation, says Gregorio Torres, head of the science department World Organization for Animal Health, a Paris-based organization that helps coordinate the global response to epidemics by disseminating information and issuing health and safety guidelines that may affect international trade.

The Bloomberg article added that “the The United States does not import pork products from Haiti or the Dominican Republic because both nations also have the less fatal classical swine fever. Porto Rico recently banned all pork products to be exported or transported to the Americas, including the ubiquitous local delicacy empanadilla. And the island’s ports and airports are heavily guarded, including by pig sniffer dogs. “