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 State-owned Harbin Veterinary Research Institute has found two
vaccine candidates, proven in laboratory tests to offer immunity to
the disease, China National Radio said in a post on China's
microblogging site Weibo.
"In the next step, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences will
accelerate the progress of pilot and clinical trials, as well as
vaccine production," said the report.
However, scientists who work on animal vaccines have sounded a note
of caution, saying that developing and launching an effective
vaccine would be difficult.
Harbin officials were not immediately available for comment when
Reuters called the institute.
The move comes as fears grow over the impact of the incurable
disease on China's hog herd and economy. Beijing has said the
breeding herd is 22% smaller than this time last year, but many in
the industry say the impact could be much greater.
In some parts of the country, huge numbers of pigs have died or been
sent to slaughter. The breeding herd is 41% smaller than last summer
in the northern province of Shandong, according to the local
government.
While Beijing is urging producers to replenish their stocks, some
farmers say it is too risky to raise pigs until a vaccine is
available.
African swine fever kills almost all pigs infected and the virus can
last for weeks in contaminated materials.
Several candidates for a vaccine have already been identified by
researchers in other countries, but many more steps are required
before putting an effective product on the market.
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"In the research setting vaccines can be very efficient, but if you
put them into the field it can be very different," said an
international expert on African swine fever, declining to be
identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Getting a vaccine through field trials and onto the market can take
years, he added.
There are also at least two strains of the virus circulating in
China and a vaccine would be unlikely to protect against both, said
the expert.
China has only recently begun work on a vaccine as researchers were
banned from handling the live virus until the disease was found in
the country.
But many experts expect China to license a vaccine more rapidly than
elsewhere, given the huge impact of the disease on one of the
country's most important sectors.
The report did not give details on the type of vaccine Harbin is
working on.
Researchers at the Pirbright Institute in Britain are focusing on
deleting genes in the virus so it can then be used as a modified
live vaccine.
GRAPHIC: African swine fever - https://tmsnrt.rs/2t4EnDK
(Reporting by Dominique Patton; Editing by Joseph Radford)
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