A VACCINE candidate for African Swine Fever has passed an important safety test, moving it one step closer to commercial availability.

Scientists with the United States Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture Research Service confirmed that the vaccine candidate did not revert to its normal virulence after being injected into swine, but remained in the weakened form needed for commercial approval.

“This is a critical milestone for the ASF vaccine candidate,” said senior ARS scientist Manuel Borca. "These safety studies are necessary to gain approval for use in Vietnam and eventually in other countries around the world. Future commercial use, however, will depend on approval from the department of animal health within each requesting country."

Read more: Beware of spreading African Swine Fever!

All live attenuated vaccines are weakened versions of a virus and can be used as a vaccine because the live vaccine virus will not cause illness and can still provide immunity. The vaccine candidate under test was recently selected by NAVETCO for commercial development in Vietnam. NAVETCO has partnered with ARS on ASF vaccine research and development since 2020. Further development will continue once the vaccine candidate receives regulatory approval from Vietnam.

Although the virus is causing profound economic losses to the pig industry across Asia and Europe, there have not been any outbreaks in the United States.