Chinese farmers warned to avoid illegal African swine fever vaccines
- Agriculture ministry says no clinical trials have been approved for any pilot vaccines
- Farmers urged to focus on prevention measures
China’s agriculture ministry is warning farmers against using illegal experimental vaccines in the country’s ongoing battle with African swine fever.
In a statement on Monday, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said it had ordered local governments to step up checks and crack down on illegal vaccines.
The move was in response to “market talk” about pilot vaccines, as well as home-made or smuggled products, which had been getting a lot of attention from pig producers, the ministry said.
African swine fever has devastated China’s hog herd, and sent pork prices soaring. The incurable disease kills almost all pigs infected but no country has yet been able to develop and approve an effective vaccine against it.
China acts to curb pork price rises as African swine fever hits supplies
China’s Harbin Veterinary Research Institute said in May it had found two vaccine candidates and was planning to start pilot trials.
But the ministry said its most advanced product was still only in pilot tests, and that it had not yet approved clinical trials. Any product claiming to be a viable vaccine was therefore illegal, it added.
It warned that using any unapproved live vaccines could cause “unpredictable biosecurity risks”, including spreading the disease further, or even introducing a new strain from abroad.
It urged farmers to continue to focus on prevention measures, and not rely on a vaccine, particularly an illegal one.
The agriculture department of Guangdong province, southern China, said in a post on its official WeChat account on August 12 that smuggled vaccines from Spain and Vietnam had recently appeared in the market, as well as “home-made” vaccines.
It did not give further details. Vietnamese authorities said in July they had recently had success in vaccine research.
