Promoting research and production of vaccines against African Swine Fever
Updated on 08:51, Wednesday, 10/04/2019 (GMT+7)
On April 5th, a meeting on proposing research on prevention solutions against African Swine Fever (ASF) was held in Hanoi with the participation of the leaders of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Health. At the meeting, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Cuong, Minister of MARD, Head of the National Steering Committee for the prevention and
On April 5th, a meeting on proposing research on prevention solutions against African Swine Fever (ASF) was held in Hanoi with the participation of the leaders of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Health. At the meeting, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Cuong, Minister of MARD, Head of the National Steering Committee for the prevention and control of African Swine Fever (ASF) affirmed that MARD would strongly promote research and production of the vaccines against ASF.
According to a report of the Department of Animal Health (MARD), until now, ASF has spread to 23 provinces and cities in Vietnam, infecting tens of thousands of pigs and all of them must be destroyed. The three outbreaks in Hung Yen, Hanoi, and Hai Duong have been reported with no newly incurring infected case in 30 days. ASF virus is a highly virulent virus that spreads rapidly with high mortality rates This epidemic has appeared for nearly 100 years but there has been no vaccine to prevent this disease. Currently, about 60 countries in the world have detected ASF virus.
Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Lan, President of Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA) informed at the meeting that VNUA has successfully isolated the ASF virus of 14 strains from the samples collected in 14 localities. VNUA has also analysed the gene sequence of 20 ASF virus strains. This is an important step towards further research on vaccine production.
Also on this event, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Cuong emphasized the importance of pig husbandry in Vietnam's agriculture. Even though researching on vaccines to prevent ASF is challenging, the researchers need to continuously make efforts in this crucial task. In the world, there have been premises on vaccines against ASF and Vietnam has also made some significant progresses in the research and isolation of ASF virus. Due to the urgency in protecting and developing the husbandry sub-sector, especially in pig husbandry, it is necessary to continue and promote research on vaccine production against this disease in the coming time.