Vietnam develops African swine fever vaccine: Official
Vietnam develops an African swine fever vaccine for pigs in collaboration with the United States.
Vietnam has developed an African swine fever vaccine for pigs in collaboration with the United States and aims to be the first global commercial exporter, an official revealed.
The virus, which is not harmful to humans, ravaged Asian hog populations after being discovered in Vietnam in 2019, with millions of pigs slaughtered following outbreaks in Mongolia, Cambodia, Hong Kong, and mainland China.
As a result of the devastation to global food systems, pork prices skyrocketed, with Vietnam among the worst hit in Southeast Asia.
"The production and commercial registration of the vaccine is a historic event," deputy minister of agriculture and rural development Phung Duc Tien said Wednesday.
"We are confident to produce pig swine fever vaccine for domestic prevention and will also aim at export," he said.
Officials did not provide a timeline for the vaccine's rollout or any indication of Vietnam's capacity to make it on a large scale.
Tien stated that beginning in 2020, Vietnamese researchers collaborated with US scientists on the NAVET-ASFVAC vaccine.
He said the Agricultural Research Institute of the US Department of Agriculture had "sent an official letter to the Department of Animal Health of Vietnam confirming that the NAVET-ASFVAC vaccine is safe and effective". "The immunity length of the vaccine is six months," Tien said.
Five Vietnamese clinical lab trials "showed 100 percent of vaccinated pigs were protected against toxicity in the laboratory," he added.
The Department of Animal Health announced Friday that an official circulation license for Vietnam would be awarded during the jab's launch event.