Current efforts towards safe and effective live attenuated vaccines against African swine fever: challenges and prospects

• Published in: Infectious diseases of poverty Vol. 10; no. 1; p. 137
• Main Authors: Wang, Tao, Luo, Rui, Sun, Yuan, Qiu, Hua-Ji
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 24.12.2021; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Adaptation; African swine fever; African Swine Fever - prevention & control; African Swine Fever Virus - genetics; Animals; Biosecurity; Differentiation of infected from vaccinated animals; Efficacy; Epidemics; Genes; Genotype & phenotype; Hog cholera; Hogs; Human acts; Human behavior; Infections; Live attenuated vaccine; Medical research; Pork; Pork industry; Prevention; Safety; Sus scrofa; Swine; Vaccination; Vaccines; Vaccines, Attenuated; Viral Vaccines; Virulence; Virulence (Microbiology); Viruses; China; Africa; Iberian Peninsula; Europe; Efficacy; Differentiation of infected from vaccinated animals; Safety; African swine fever; Live attenuated vaccine
• ISSN: 2049-9957; 2095-5162; 2049-9957
• DOI: 10.1186/s40249-021-00920-6

African swine fever (ASF) is a fatal hemorrhagic disease in domestic pigs and wild boar caused by African swine fever virus (ASFV). Since ASF has been introduced into Europe and Asia, the major pig-raising areas, posing a huge threat to the pork industry worldwide. Currently, prevention and control of ASF are basically dependent on strict biosecurity measures and stamping-out policy once ASF occurs. The major risks of ASF spread are insufficient biosecurity measures and human behaviors. Therefore, a safe and effective vaccine seems to be a reasonable demand for the prevention and control of ASF. Due to the efficacy advantage over other types of vaccines, live attenuated vaccines (LAVs), especially virulence-associated genes deleted vaccines, are likely to be put into emergency and conditional use in restricted areas if ASF is out of control in a country with a huge pig population and pork consumption, like China. However, the safety, efficacy, and genetic stability of current candidate ASF LAVs require comprehensive clinical evaluations prior to country-wide field application. Several critical issues need to be addressed to commercialize an ideal ASF LAV, including a stable cell line for manufacturing vaccines, differentiation of infected from vaccinated animals (DIVA), and cross-protection from different genotypes. A safe and effective DIVA vaccine and an accompanying diagnostic assay will facilitate the prevention, control, and eradication of ASF, which is quite challenging in the near future.