The deadly pig disease African Swine Fever (ASF) which has been rapidly spreading from its origins in sub-Saharan Africa to other continents is now being challenged with a new Zoetis-licensed vaccine candidate, jointly owned by UConn and USDA
Addressing the rapid spread of the lethal virus, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and UConn developed promising vaccine candidates, one of them being the ASFV-G-DMGF. This candidate was recently licensed for commercial development by Zoetis, an offshoot of the medical company Pfizer and the world’s largest animal pharmaceutical producer.
A report published by UConn mentioned about trials being conducted on wild boars and domestic pigs involving administration of the vaccine through edible bait and intra-muscular routes respectively. Both routes were found effective against ASF, confirming that ASF-G-DMGF was indeed a successful vaccine candidate that could potentially be adopted by well-organised and controlled immunisation campaigns. This was also documented by researchers in a peer-reviewed article in the journal Pathogens.
