Global consultation on African Swine Fever (ASF) control In December 2023 (12-14 th ), FAO in collaboration with WOAH hosted a hybrid event (in Rome, FAO Headquarters): The Global consultation on African swine fever (ASF) control. Delegates (around 60) included international organizations and governmental representatives, as well as people from the global swine community and researchers/ university academics. The event covered 5 main areas: Epidemiology, Surveillance and Diagnostics, Resilience and Sustainability of the Pig Sector, Biosecurity and Risk Reduction, Vaccine Development and Vaccination. This meeting brought together experts, policymakers, risk managers, and other stakeholders to discuss the latest science and knowledge on ASF. Collectively delegates provided evidence-based recommendations to update policy and decision- making for ASF prevention and control. Here we provide a debrief of the findings of this important event for the swine community. ASF is responsible for large pig population losses and triggers drastic economic consequences. This disease is caused by a DNA virus family Asfarviridae. Hosts include both domestic and wild varieties of swine and the virus is extremely resistant in the environment. The disease can be transmitted directly between sick and healthy animal hosts, through consumption of infected meat/blood/feces, or indirectly by ticks of the genus Ornithodoros. The virus incubation time is 4-19 days and peracute infection can result in sudden death with few clinical symptoms. The acute form of the disease shows through signs of fever, skin reddening at the distal extremities of the pig, anorexia, incoordination, vomiting, diarrhea and eventually death. The less virulent chronic form has a lower mortality rate, but include various symptoms such as weight loss, necrosis of the skin and infected swine can be virus carriers for life and allow continuous disease transmission. A big take-away of this global event was that most likely ASF is here to stay in the commercial pig production setting, specifically in endemic countries such as China, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand. Unfortunately, there seems to be insufficient investment of funding or resources to eradicate the disease in these regions. In Europe, the disease continues to circulate in wild boar and may occasionally spill over into small scale or, more rarely, commercial pig farms. The cost of elimination in wild boar is not only very high but close to impossible due to the large, forested areas that would need to be targeted.
Dr Charles Oliver Gomez-Duran Head of Technical Services Vaccines Global Strategic Marketing Swine Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health
During the event, WOAH acknowledged their concerns regarding the use of vaccines that are not correctly tested for efficacy and safety, and specifically the potential spread of poorly attenuated Modified Live Viruses (MLV). AVAC, Dabaco and Navetco (Vietnam) and the USDA are advanced in their development of MLV vaccines for commercial application in Southeast Asia. A launch is being prepared for a Chinese ASF MLV vaccine based on multiple gene deletions, similar to the USDA approach from the Harbin Institute (China). To address the questions about of MLV vaccine quality, the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI) is leading a consortium to independently verify vaccine safety and efficacy. As a closing remark during the event, it was highlighted that we should prioritize Public Private Partnership (PPP) between the swine community/organizations and companies like Boehringer Ingelheim in tackling ASF. Boehringer Ingelheim is working with multiple partners to develop a vaccine, a difficult undertaking that can take years. We also support our customers every step of the way with services such as providing biosecurity and diagnostics & monitoring tools to help them fight ASF. One tool, the ASF Combat app, allowed us to compile a scientific analysis of 1000 swine farms in China. Boehringer Ingelheim is keen to continue our participation in ASF initiatives to combat the devastating disease. For more information on the surprising results of the ASF Combat app or to participate in the database please follow the links below: https://www.boehringer-ingelheim.com/tool-aid- prevention-african-swine-fever
Figure 1: Delegates at the Global consultation on African Swine Fever control, hosted in Rome in December 2023
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator