DA-BAI Begins Vaccine Trial Against Dreaded African Swine Fever

by Daniel Varias (Isochore)

The Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Animal Industry (DA-BAI) has launched its initial trials for African Swine Fever (ASF) vaccine in critical areas in the Philippines, Agriculture Secretary William Dar disclosed on April 26, 2021.

Dar announced on the Sulong Pilipinas 2021 forum that the trials commenced on April 23, and the department also made connections with 10 private companies for the trial tests of ASF vaccines in the country. One of these partner companies is Zoetis Inc., the world’s leading producer of veterinary drugs, therapeutics, and vaccines.

In September 2019, Zoetis received a non-exclusive license agreement with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the organization discoursing with DA regarding including the Philippines in ASF vaccine trial tests undergoing in Washington.

Zoetis has revealed their approach to African Swine Fever via live attenuated vaccine strains of African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV). To produce live attenuated viruses, vaccine developers delete the 9GL gene and genes from multigene families (MGFs) 360 and 505 from the double-stranded DNA genome of ASFV. Studies prove the association of these genes to ASFV virulence. Also, the live attenuated ASFV confers a protective response to the swine when it becomes reinoculated with a virulent isolate.

“The vaccine trials complement our ongoing 'Bantay ASF sa Barangay' program. We consider it as the proverbial 'light at the end of the tunnel' that would free us from this dark episode that adversely affected our swine industry, and pork supply and prices," Dar said.

He also mentioned how they coordinate with provincial veterinarians in conducting and monitoring the trials for 84 days. He assured the execution of the latest protocols set by the government technical working group, vaccine manufacturers, and Zoetis Philippines, Inc.

“The trials in the respective farms will depend on the agreement by the concerned parties, the availability of trial animals, schedule of the farm and BAI veterinarian and Zoetis representatives,” Dar added.

According to the latest data from DA, the Philippines is currently on a 10-month low of 286 confirmed ASF cases in March. The ASF cases in the country also continues to decline, with only 98 ASF cases confirmed in April.