On the afternoon of October 19, 2023, Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA) had a discussion with Professor Wataru Yamazaki, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University and Professor Ryoji Yamaguchi, Miyazaki University about the implementation of the project on “Developing a highly sensitive diagnostic method to diagnose African swine fever in Vietnam and deploying an application to understand the role of disease transmission in wild boars”.

 

Discussing the implementation of the collaborative research project on African swine fever with Japanese partners

The project is to be implemented within 5 years (2022-2027) with the goal of developing a highly sensitive diagnostic method to diagnose African swine fever, researching and clarifying the transmission dynamics of African swine fever in Vietnam and to strengthen scientific research capacity for VNUA’s staff and lecturers. The project is funded by Japan's scientific research fund (KAKENHI).

From the start of the project implementation, the project collected blood and saliva samples from pigs suspected of having African swine fever in Vietnam, and developed diagnostic methods for African swine fever with high sensitivity and specificity from blood and saliva samples collected and sent one VNUA’s staff to participate in an exchange at Kyoto University, Japan to strengthen research capacity.

 

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Lan, Party Secretary, VNUA’s President, gives a present to Professor Wataru Yamazaki and Professor Ryoji Yamaguchi

At the discussion, the two sides exchanged information and discussed the initial results of the project as well as the contents that needed to be implemented in the next stage. In addition, the attending delegates also agreed on the progress of implementing the application to monitor the circulation of diseases in wild boars and clarified the role of ticks in disease transmission, and the project's budget for the activities to be implemented in Vietnam in the near future.