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| Credit FAO - Photo: ©Bernd Settnik / DPA |
#14,065
One of the biggest obstacles in controlling the spread of African Swine Fever (ASF) is that it can become endemic in wild boar, spread geographically, and continually re-introduce the virus to local farms (see FAO Evidence points to wild boar in transmission of African swine fever).
Without a viable vaccine, the only recourse is to cull exposed farmed pigs, and large numbers of wild boar.While it isn't commercially available yet, and must undergo additional safety testing, recently scientists in Madrid announced a successful first test of an oral-bait vaccine against ASF in wild boar.
My thanks to Dr Baz Hughes of the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) for sending me an article published today in FarmingUK, and a link to the original paper (below).The full paper is open-access, so follow the link to read it in its entirety.
First Oral Vaccination of Eurasian Wild Boar Against African Swine Fever Virus Genotype II
Jose A. Barasona1*†, Carmina Gallardo2†, Estefanía Cadenas-Fernández1, Cristina Jurado1, Belén Rivera1, Antonio Rodríguez-Bertos1,3, Marisa Arias2 and Jose M. Sánchez-Vizcaíno1
African swine fever (ASF), the most significant threat to the pig industry worldwide, has spread to more than 55 countries on three continents, and it affects more than 77% of the world swine population. In the European Union, wild boar (Sus scrofa) is the most severely affected host.
The main reasons for the unprecedented and constant spread of ASF in Europe are the trade activities, the continuous movement of infected-wild boar populations among regions and the lack of vaccine to prevent ASF infection. In this study, we demonstrate that oral immunization of wild boar with a non-hemadsorbing, attenuated ASF virus of genotype II isolated in Latvia in 2017 (Lv17/WB/Rie1) conferred 92% protection against challenge with a virulent ASF virus isolate (Arm07).
This is, to our knowledge, the first report of a promising vaccine against ASF virus in wild boar by oral administration. Further studies should assess the safety of repeated administration and overdose, characterize long-term shedding and verify the genetic stability of the vaccine virus to confirm if Lv17/WB/Rie1 could be used for free-ranging wild boar in ASF control programs.(Continue . . . )
A less technical review can be found in the following FarmingUK report, published today.
New vaccine can immunise wild boar against ASF
14 May 2019
Although promising, there are a number of issues that must be resolved before this vaccine can be used in the wild. Wild Boar who are immunized continue to shed the vaccine virus for a (variable) period of time and can therefore spread immunity to other boar - a desirable feature - as long as the vaccine virus remains genetically stable.
Wild boar aren't the only conduit by which ASF is spreading, but a safe and effective oral-bait vaccine against African Swine Fever would be an important first pharmacological option against the disease.How long before this vaccine, or another contender, becomes available remains the $64 question.
Meanwhile in Europe and Asia, ASF marches on.
