November 1, 2019

OIE says developing an African swine fever vaccine would be a challenge

The World Health Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) said finding a vaccine for African swine fever (ASF) would be difficult due to the virus' nature, reported South China Morning Post. 

Dr. Mark Schipp, vice-president of OIE said a vaccine is currently being developed by scientists from around the world in an effort to combat the spread of ASF. However, the virus' inherent nature makes it a challenge – it is fatal to swine the moment it infects a herd.

While ASF can potentially spread through live infected animals like wild boar or ticks, it can still survive for months inside swine products, or years inside frozen carcasses, making it easier for ASF to spread around the world through cross-border contamination.

He added that the spread of ASF over the year to countries has aggravated a worldwide crisis, especially in China where half the international swine population is located.

China has been worst affected by the ASF outbreak. Adam Speck, senior commodity analyst at IHS Markit's Agribusiness Intelligence said China's official declared inventory has stated 100 million swine have been lost to the disease. Rabobank predicts this number will increase to 350 million, representing one quarter of the world's swine population.

Swine prices have been on the rise due to China's dwindling stocks. Export approvals have been granted to foreign meat facilities by the Chinese government, and deals have been made with meat producers to supplement the loss of swine stock.

Sales of swine products from US to China has doubled, while prices for swine in Europe has now reached its highest in the last six years.

Alistair Driver, editor of UK's Pig World magazine said while China considers its swine population will recover to levels pre-ASF by next year, global analysts believe the massive losses and persistent spread of ASF in the country will lead to a huge shortfall in swine production for the conceivable future.

He added that consumers are already beginning to shift to consuming other meat products, and export volumes for swine are increasing prices for pork globally.