Summary of the Current Status of African Swine Fever Vaccine Development in China

Abstract

African swine fever (ASF) is a highly lethal and contagious disease of domestic pigs and wild boars. There is still no credible commercially available vaccine. The only existing one, issued in Vietnam, is actually used in limited quantities in limited areas, for large-scale clinical evaluation. ASF virus is a large complex virus, not inducing full neutralizing antibodies, with multiple genotypes and a lack of comprehensive research on virus infection and immunity. Since it was first reported in China in August 2018, ASF has spread rapidly across the country. To prevent, control, further purify and eradicate ASF, joint scientific and technological research on ASF vaccines has been carried out in China. In the past 4 years (2018–2022), several groups in China have been funded for the research and development of various types of ASF vaccines, achieving marked progress and reaching certain milestones. Here, we have provided a comprehensive and systematic summary of all of the relevant data regarding the current status of the development of ASF vaccines in China to provide a reference for further progress worldwide. At present, the further clinical application of the ASF vaccine still needs a lot of tests and research accumulation.