Co-operation in research and production of vaccine against African swine fever committed

On January 14, the Department of Animal Health under Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Dabaco Group held a cooperation agreement signing ceremony to speed up the research and production of a vaccine against African swine fever (ASF), introducing products to market as soon as possible to serve the disease prevention.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Director of the Department of Animal Health Pham Van Dong said that over the past time, ASF has greatly influenced the development of the pig farming and export of Vietnam.

The virus that causes ASF is very dangerous. It can persist for a long time in the environment and pork products. In particular, for more than 100 years since the disease appeared in the world, there have been no effective commercial medicine and vaccines against it.

“To mobilize maximum resources for the ASF prevention and control, under the close direction of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Department of Animal Health has actively called for co-ordination of national agencies, organisations and potential enterprises in information/experience exchange, providing financial and technical supports to improve their disease prevention and control capacity,” he said, adding that proactive approach to advanced science during the research and production of ASF vaccine in Vietnam was urgent.

Accordingly, on January 6, 2022, the Department of Animal Health established a working group to closely coordinate, provide specific instructions, and promptly remove difficulties and obstacles for Dabaco Group to speed up the vaccine research and commercial production of the vaccine.

Dabaco Group has also established a working group consisting of its leaders, scientists, and managers to directly work and coordinate with the working group of the Department of Animal Health to solve issues timely and effectively.

Besides supporting administrative procedures and related legal issues, the Department of Animal Health's working group also plans and advises Dabaco Group on putting the veterinary medicine plant into operation, meeting GMP-WHO standards.

At the same time, the working group of the Department of Animal Health also arranged experienced and highly specialized human resources to guide, support, and train the personnel of Dabaco Group to help them get the Certificate of Good Practice in producing veterinary drugs following GMP-WHO standards.

ASF vaccine to be introduced as soon as possible

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Dabaco Group, Nguyen Nhu So said that the current situation of small-scale livestock production, which has not yet ensured biosafety, was the reason for the appearance and spread of ASF disease.

The preventive vaccine was an effective solution to curb ASF, he said.

“The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development assigned the group to cooperate in researching ASF vaccine with experts from the US Department of Agriculture. The group has focused on human resources, finance, infrastructure to carry out the mission. Up to now, the Group has achieved certain successes in research and testing. The vaccine researched by Dabaco is safe and highly protective. It is expected that in the second quarter of 2022, the ASF vaccine will be announced,” So said.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien praised and highly appreciated the results achieved by the Department of Animal Health and Dabaco Group.

Tien said that up to now, pig farming was still the livelihood for tens of millions of Vietnamese farmers. 

“If there is no vaccine, the problem of ASF will be a big challenge affecting the development of the livestock industry,” he said.

“In the coming time, the ministry will direct the Department of Animal Health to continue working closely with Dabaco Group to properly implement the research and production of the vaccine. This is very urgent,” emphasised Tien.

The Deputy Minister suggested that the Department of Animal Health and Dabaco Group urgently evaluate the remaining contents and build a vaccine factory with the fastest speed. He also asked for the vaccine testing to be completed soon so that the vaccine could be introduced as soon as possible.