While African swine fever is not present in the U.S., the deadly animal disease has impacted the global pork industry for years, causing billions of dollars in losses to the market.
After years of working on a vaccine, Vietnam approved the domestic, commercial use of two home-grown vaccines. The government announced the approval Monday, making these vaccines the first vaccines available to fight the deadly disease.
According to Reuters, the vaccines include the NAVET-ASFVAC and the AVAC ASF LIVE vaccine. The NAVET-ASVAC vaccine was co-developed by Navetco Central Veterinary Medicine and U.S. scientists and is an attenuated live-virus vaccine. The, was developed by AVAC Vietnamese JSC.
U.S. Department of Agriculture researchers reviewed the results of NAVET-ASFVAC and said the vaccine showed a high level of efficacy and no safety risks or problems.
The companies will create a production plan for domestic sales and exports under the agriculture ministry. So far, 650,000 doses have been tested on hog herds in 40 provinces. So far, the efficacy rate of these vaccines has been incredibly effective, at a 95 percent success rate.
“The vaccines are eligible for circulation and use nationwide,” the ministry said in the statement.
Although the U.S. pig population has been free from the virus, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack noted there was likely to be interest in precautionary purchases.
In their most recent report, the World Organisation for Animal Health said swine fever is in nearly 50 countries and has caused about 1.3 million pig deaths since 2021.
While there are no current outbreaks, in just one 2018-2019 outbreak in China, half of the domestic pig population died there. The economic losses were devastating.
African swine fever is not a concern for human health, but it is highly contagious and deadly to domestic and feral swine. The world food trade has been distorted since the outbreaks — most countries will not import pork from regions suffering from the disease. The United States currently exports about 28 percent of the pork produced here — a feral and domestic outbreak would immediately halt exports.
