African swine fever vaccine shown to be safe in clinical trial

A candidate vaccine for African swine fever under development in China has shown safety to pigs during the initial clinical trial, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences said on Wednesday. 

The vaccine has been put under a clinical trial in three regions - Heilongjiang and Henan provinces and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region - since April after approval from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and 3,000 pigs have been vaccinated, the academy said. 

Results as of present showed these pigs are healthy and have not shown prominent side effects, and an autopsy of vaccinated pigs showed the vaccine did not cause sickness, it said. 

Following the vaccination, less than 1 percent of the pigs died, which is of no significant difference from the death rate of unvaccinated pigs, the academy said. 

A trial on the effectiveness of the vaccine is underway, the academy said, adding it will speed up the research and development of the vaccine while following biosafety regulations and drug approval procedures. 

The vaccine, developed by Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, in Heilongjiang province, which is affiliated to the academy, showed safety and effectiveness during previous lab research, the academy said. 

African swine fever has caused a huge loss to the pork industry in China since it was first reported in the country in August 2018. Following the outbreak, Chinese researchers have accelerated development and research of vaccines for the virus.