Ready to produce vaccines for the African Swine Fever

Mr. Tran Van Hanh, Deputy General Director of National Veterinary Joint Stock Company (NAVETCO), said that the African Swine Fever virus (ASFV) vaccine research project has achieved important scientific and practical results after a period of implementation. It was all thanks to the effective help of specialized units under the Department of Animal Health and the cooperation of Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC) and NAVETCO.

The results show that the ASFV variant G-delta I 177L is safe in pigs when used at a dose 104 times higher than the minimum immune dose, giving 100% protection.

The vaccine variant’s probability to revert to virulence has also been tested with an outcome of six consecutive subcultures in pigs having no signs of ASF in all transfections, especially in generation V. The stability of virus variant G-delta I 177 L has been confirmed.

The vaccine produced from this variant provides good protection through the virulence assessment method using a powerful ASFV variant isolated in Vietnam. Through the assessment, all six batches of experimental vaccines met the requirements:100% of vaccinated pigs has built up protection while 100% of control pigs died from the virulent ASFV.

The virus variant vaccine was recorded to possess good immunogenicity. Test results also proved that there exists protective antigen homology between the virus variant vaccine and the virulent virus circulating and causing ASF for pigs raised in Vietnam from 2019 to the present.

"This test is the final step to submit to the National Science Council for approval before putting it into mass production. Results from the testing showed that the vaccinated pigs remained healthy after six consecutive days of positive results, while the unvaccinated control pigs showed clinical symptoms of infection and died. We have fully prepared human and material resources to immediately initiate the production upon approval," said Mr. Hanh.

Assessing the test results, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said, “Since importing the G-delta I 177 L virus variant from the US, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has drastic direction in the research process. Inspection and evaluation are carried out thoroughly, even including the establishment of a scientific council led by the Department of Animal Health and scientists.”

Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien believes that the National Science Council will soon approve the test results. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will direct the production of the ASFV vaccine to serve epidemic prevention.

It is to serve the near-100 million people in the country as well as consumers of export markets. Many businesses have currently invested in a closed chain from seed, feed, and standard breeding procedures to preliminary processing and processing on a high-modernity technology scale.