Vietnam announced on Wednesday that it had successfully developed an African swine fever vaccine for pigs, with the goal of being the first country to commercially produce and export it.

 African swine fever, one of the most lethal livestock illnesses, was discovered in Vietnam in February 2019 and led the government to cull almost 20 per cent of its hog population last year.

It began in Africa before spreading to Europe and Asia, killing hundreds of millions of pigs worldwide. Humans are unaffected by African swine fever.

“This is a milestone of the veterinary industry,” deputy agriculture minister Phung Duc Tien said in a statement.

“With immunity lasting six months, the vaccine will be a shield for hog-raising industry and pig production globally.”

Scientists have been developing the vaccine since November 2019 in collaboration with US scientists, with five clinical trials completed.

The Agricultural Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture validated its safety and efficacy, according to Tien.

“This success opens great expectations and the room to export African swine fever vaccine produced in Vietnam is huge,” Tien added.

He did not specify a timeline for when the vaccine would be available for export or an estimate of Vietnam’s production capacity.

Although the swine fever outbreak in Vietnam has receded, allowing farmers to restore hog herds, the virus is still wreaking havoc on farms in other nations.

(Adapted from MoneyControl.com)