The development of a vaccine for the deadly African swine fever (ASF) has been heralded as “very encouraging” by UK chief veterinary officer Christine Middlemiss. ASF has spread across eastern Europe and Asia and caused the death of up to 7m pigs.
The development of a vaccine for the deadly African swine fever (ASF) has been heralded as “very encouraging” by UK chief veterinary officer Christine Middlemiss.
ASF has spread across eastern Europe and Asia and caused the death of up to 7m pigs.
The Pirbright Institute, which is behind the vaccine, said more testing is needed but that under test circumstances the study showed that 100% of pigs immunised with the new vaccine were protected when given a lethal does of ASF virus.
Huge step
“Demonstrating that our vaccine has the potential to fully protect pigs against ASF is a huge step in our vaccine development programme,” Dr Chris Netherton, Head of Pirbright’s ASF vaccinology group, said.
“We have already begun work to refine the genes included in the vaccine to improve its effectiveness and provide more protection.”
To date, there has been no outbreak of ASF in the UK or Ireland.
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