Stricter control for the vaccination against African swine fever

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien and representatives from other units under the Ministry directly related to the issue of African swine fever vaccination performed a field inspection at Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan's family farm area in Cao Minh commune, Phuc Yen city, Vinh Phuc province on the morning of September 6.

Mr. Le Xuan Cong, Director of Vinh Phuc Provincial Sub-Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, reported that the province has deployed the vaccination against African swine fever at 2 farms on a total of 258 vaccinated pigs.

"So far, we have finished 2 rounds of vaccination for the pigs. It has been 32 days since the first round of vaccination and all of the pigs have grown and developed normally", Mr. Le Xuan Cong reported.

Accordingly, Vinh Phuc Sub-Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary coordinated with Region I Sub-Department of Animal Health, Navetco Company, to evaluate and select biosafety farms, with a herd of pigs at the appropriate age as recommended by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

On Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan's family farm,  a total of 220 pigs were vaccinated. “The first round of vaccination was completed on August 2nd and the second on August 29th. After these two vaccination rounds, several pigs have been reported to have mild fever; all of which have been handled and are now completely stable", added Mr. Le Van Hoang, technical officer at the farm.

Regarding the general situation, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said that after completing the procedures in accordance with regulations and producing finished vaccines, 20 localities have deployed vaccinations with a total of more than 21,000 doses.

Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien emphasized that the deaths of pigs in Binh Dinh, Phu Yen and Quang Ngai provinces were caused by the uncontrolled vaccination process that did not comply with the guidelines of the Ministry, on the wrong vaccination targets, and at the wrong dosage.

Regarding the orientation to expand the scale of African swine fever vaccination in the immediate future, the Deputy Minister remarked: “With positive results on pigs that have been properly vaccinated recently, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will coordinate with Navetco company to deploy up to 600,000 doses as planned”.

In addition, Mr. Phung Duc Tien said, the Ministry will impose stricter control of the vaccination process so that it is in accordance with the guidelines of the Ministry, the instructions of the Department of Animal Health, on the correct vaccination targets, and with supervision both before and after vaccination to ensure the effectiveness of the vaccine.

"Regarding the incidents that were reported, we will consider the responsibility of the stakeholders involved to deploy appropriate measures", noted Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien.

Director of Vinh Phuc Sub-Department of Livestock and Veterinary Medicine said that in the immediate future, the province will continue to consider and expand the amount of African swine fever vaccination for other pig farms in the area. There are 12,000 pigs in the province registered for vaccination agaist the African swine fever.

Acting Director of the Department of Animal Health Nguyen Van Long said that the deaths of post-vaccination pigs in Binh Dinh, Phu Yen and Quang Ngai provinces were mostly due to the supply and sale of vaccines directly to grassroots veterinarians and farmers for self-vaccination; and not on the intended vaccination targets.

Namely, Navetco Company recommended to vaccinate only pigs from 8 to 10 weeks old, but farmers vaccinated on all types of pigs including sows, boars, piglets and so on.

On the other hand, farmers self-vaccinate without supervision of veterinary authorities and Navetco Company. The grassroots veterinary system and farmers do not strictly follow hygiene and disinfection measures, and they shared needles, leading to the spread of the African swine fever virus in the field during the vaccination process.

Navetco Central Veterinary Medicine Joint Stock Company (Navetco Company) provided over 22,000 doses of NAVET-ASFVAC African swine fever vaccine to 19 provinces and cities to deploy vaccination for local pig farmers and businesses from the beginning of July to August 24, 2022. So far, the pig herds are healthy and well developed, except for several unexpected cases that occurred in Binh Dinh and Phu Yen provinces where the vaccination was carried out without the supervision of veterinary authorities and vaccine suppliers.