NO SAFETY ISSUES
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) researchers have reviewed the results of one of the vaccines, NAVET-ASFVAC, which they co-developed with Vietnamese company NAVETCO, a USDA spokesperson said.
After the vaccine showed a high level of efficacy and no safety risks in trials, 600,000 doses were approved for initial sales to pig farmers in Vietnam, of which the first 40,000 “have been delivered without any safety problems”, USDA said.
That followed an initial hiccup when use of the vaccine was suspended after dozens of pigs died last summer following inoculations in farms that used the vaccine off-label, USDA said, administering it to hogs that were not supposed to be inoculated, such as pregnant sows.
No problems emerged after deliveries resumed with adequate veterinary monitoring, USDA said.
NAVET-ASFVAC is an attenuated live-virus vaccine, like those used in childrens’ routine vaccinations around the world. Use of unlicensed live-virus vaccines in China in past years raised concerns they caused the emergence of new strains of swine fever.
Only limited data are available from China’s trials on a live-virus vaccine against swine fever.
The second vaccine tested in Vietnam, AVAC ASF LIVE, which was discovered by US researchers and commercialised by Vietnamese firm AVAC, has been delivered to more pigs than NAVET-ASFVAC under its pilot deployment, but USDA said it had not yet reviewed the data.
NAVETCO, AVAC and Vietnam’s agriculture ministry, which is responsible for approval of veterinary vaccines, did not respond to requests for comment.
Source: CNA
