Household pig farming has lifeline thanks to ASF vaccine: Practical results will convince farmers to use

Dr. Nguyen Van Diep: AVAC has persistently implemented practical models, helping livestock farmers become more confident through "real people, real work" results. Photo: Hong Tham.

Conducting hundreds of experiments in 20 provinces and cities

General Director of AVAC Vietnam Joint Stock Company Nguyen Van Diep said that after nearly 3 years of research, the AVAC ASF LIVE vaccine developed by AVAC has been officially licensed for circulation and use for porkers since July 2023. This marked an important forward step in preventing African swine fever (ASF) disease in Vietnam.

"During the development process, AVAC has coordinated with state management agencies to proactively conduct evaluation experiments on at least 600,000 farms.

After being licensed in July 2023, AVAC continued to prove the vaccine's safety in many localities by conducting more than 100 experiments in over 20 provinces and cities. The results show that all vaccinated pig herds are safe and well protected," said Dr. Diep.

To spread the effectiveness of the ASF vaccine to livestock farmers, Dr. Diep said that AVAC is coordinating with state management agencies and related units to organize a series of workshops, trainings, and testing models.  Some provinces, such as Cao Bang, Lang Son, Bac Ninh, and Lai Chau, have deployed mass vaccination with positive results. For example, in Lang Son, after 3 months of ASF vaccination, the outbreak was reduced by more than 90% and the disease was well controlled.

AVAC Company has donated the ASF vaccine to a number of provinces, such as Tien Giang, Quang Ninh, Hai Duong, Long An, and Lao Cai. Each province has received 1,000–3,000 doses for mass vaccination in some communes. After seeing that the vaccine is safe and effective, these localities will have bigger plans to expand the model.

"Recently, AVAC also cooperated with C.P. Vietnam Livestock Joint Stock Company to organize workshops to help technical staff of C.P. Vietnam Livestock Joint Stock Company understand the characteristics of the vaccine, thereby bringing this vaccine closer to customers. Thanks to that, about 50 livestock farms that are customers of C.P. Vietnam have been tested for the vaccination and achieved extremely good results. Many households' pig herds were successfully sold. Users include both porkers and pig breeds," said Dr. Diep.

The AVAC ASF LIVE vaccine produced by AVAC has been licensed for commercial circulation since July 2023. Photo: Hong Tham.

Vaccines are the most effective "armor"

According to Dr. Diep, there are still some concerns about the effectiveness of the ASF vaccine because it is a new vaccine and produced by a domestic company. However, in recent times, AVAC has persistently implemented practical testing models, helping farmers become more confident through "real people, real work" results.

According to Dr. Diep, one of the major obstacles for small and medium livestock farmers is that the ASF vaccine is not recommended for use in sows and pig breeds. Currently, AVAC has completed the process and confidently recommends the use of the AVAC ASF LIVE vaccine for both sows and boars.

"The company is carrying out registration procedures with the Department of Animal Health (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) to be officially approved for the use of the vaccine for sows and boars, helping to increase the spectrum of use and protection. Thereby helping livestock farmers become more confident, especially small and medium-scale livestock farming models," said Dr. Diep.

However, Dr. Diep noted that the vaccine is "armor," not "magic wands," so to achieve maximum disease prevention effectiveness, it needs to be combined with other biosafety measures because vaccines are for prevention, not for treatment.

"After vaccinating pigs against ASF, it takes 2-4 weeks to produce enough protective immunity. If the pigs are exposed to the pathogen during this time, an epidemic will still occur. Therefore, during this period, livestock farmers need to synchronously implement many other biosafety solutions to avoid the risk of epidemics," Dr. Diep emphasized.

https://vietnamagriculture.nongnghiep.vn