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APHIS administrator optimistic about ASF vaccine

The associate administrator of USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is optimistic about the development of an African swine fever vaccine.

Dr. Jack Shere tells Brownfield a vaccine developed in Vietnam shows promise, but is not ready to be used in the Dominican Republic or Haiti.

“We are studying it and trying to decide where that vaccine is at, but testing needs to be completed in regards to efficacy, safety, and potency.”

He says USDA’s Agricultural Research Service and Center for Veterinary Biologics have taken the lead in evaluating the Vietnamese vaccine.

“And whether it’s ready for something either we would want to use in Hispaniola as a possibility and recommend that to them, or perhaps stockpile in the United States.”

Shere says the company in Vietnam that’s developed the vaccine is small and would need help producing enough just to meet U.S. demand.