With African swine fever (ASF) virus moving across the globe, the race is on to be the first to develop a vaccine against the economically devastating disease. The Pig Site spoke to Dr. Linda Dixon, head of the African swine fever (ASF) group at The Pirbright Institute, about their current research and development efforts for an ASF vaccine.
The Pirbright research focuses on how the virus evades host defenses. The second research approach involves identifying gene codes for proteins that are immunogenic and can induce a cellular or antibody response. Other vaccine research options from Spain and Asia are discussed as the virus and the race to eradicate moves forward.
Source: The Pig Site, July 15, 2019. Link. “We have been conducting research to underpin vaccine development by improving understanding of how the virus evades hosts defenses, especially the main antiviral response type I Interferon,” explains Dr. Dixon. “This knowledge has been applied to the development of gene-deleted live attenuated African swine fever virus vaccines.”
INSIGHTS: Progress is being made toward developing an ASF vaccine. Multiple approaches are being explored and information is being shared by research teams across the globe.