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: CEOs of the Industry, A Conversation with Daniel Rivest, President & CEO, Olymel

Swine Web’s CEOs of the Industry series welcomes Daniel Rivest, President & CEO of Olymel, for a wide-ranging conversation about leadership, the future of Canadian pork, and the opportunities ahead for one of North America’s largest pork and poultry processors.

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The discussion also tackles some of the biggest issues facing Canadian pork production today, including labor availability, global competition, animal health, trade and export markets, automation, and the growing potential of artificial intelligence throughout the food production system.

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• Daniel Rivest’s path to becoming President & CEO of Olymel

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• Leadership lessons and opportunities for the next generation

The conversation concludes with a Fast Five, giving viewers a more personal look at Rivest’s leadership approach and his vision for Olymel’s future.