HANOI, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam officially granted a commercial circulation permit for a locally-made vaccine against African swine fever (ASF) on Friday, Vietnam News Agency reported.
The country's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) announced the successful production of an ASF vaccine on Wednesday.
The permit was given to a local producer, Navetco National Veterinary Joint Stock Company, which started researching and producing the vaccine in 2020, using a strain of virus (which is genetically modified by deleting a previously uncharacterized gene, I177L) imported from the United States, according to the report.
Following lab trials, the vaccine has proved to be able to protect at least 80 percent of immunized pigs, which retain immunity for six months, the news agency said.
Speaking at the ceremony, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan expressed his hope that the vaccine producer would ensure the balance between profit and cost to ensure it would be affordable for farmers.
The vaccine will first be sold on a small scale and given to around 600,000 pigs aged between 8-10 weeks. Following an evaluation, the ministry will consider nationwide distribution, the news agency reported.
It is expected that by the end of this year, Vietnam will grant circulation permit for two other vaccines against the ASF.
In 2021, ASF hit 59 out of 63 provinces and cities across Vietnam, leading to the culling of nearly 285,500 pigs, according to the Department of Animal Health under the MARD. ■