USDA Develops Candidate African Swine Fever Vaccine

Jun 10, 2021

By Greg Cima

A federal research team reported progress toward creating a commercial vaccine against the devastating African swine fever virus.

An article published in May in the Journal of Virology indicates Department of Agriculture scientists at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center in New York created an attenuated vaccine candidate that can reproduce in a continuous cell line, overcoming a limitation that previous vaccine candidates required fresh macrophages from live swine. USDA Agricultural Research Service scientists had developed a previous vaccine candidate that offered effective protection, but the macrophage requirements prevented large-scale production.

Two of the article authors—USDA ARS research microbiologists Manuel Borca, PhD, and Douglas Gladue, PhD—said in a joint message that the ASF virus requires primary swine macrophages to replicate, and those macrophages do not divide. The researchers adapted an ASF virus to reproduce in a cell line that was developed at the ARS from primary porcine epithelial cells, and the attenuated vaccine candidate they produced with that modified virus protected swine as well as their previous vaccine candidate.

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Video: Season 7, Episode 1: Managing Risk and Seeing Opportunities in U.S. Pork Production

Today’s episode features three guests discussing the similarities and differences between pork production in the United States and Brazil, along with strategies for managing risk in today’s industry while recognizing and acting on opportunities. First, Dr. Anne Caroline de Lara, executive manager of live pig production at Seara Alimentos, a JBS company in Brazil, is joined by Dr. Matthew Turner, head of operations for JBS Live Pork. Together, they discuss how labor, climate and ventilation challenges vary between Brazil and the United States, while underscoring their shared commitment to raising healthy pigs. They also point to lessons producers in both countries can take from one another’s systems and on-farm experiences. Then, Brady Reicks, risk manager at Reicks View Farms, shares his perspective on risk management, drawing from his background in markets and his transition into farming. He discusses how protecting margins varies by operation and offers practical approaches producers can use to make marketing and business decisions with greater confidence rather than hesitation.

Both conversations were recorded at recent industry events focused on swine livability, including the International Conference on Pig Livability and Iowa Swine Day.