This week Vietnam's Department of Animal Health under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development announced it will soon be shipping African swine fever vaccines to the Philippines and Indonesia. According to local news outlet Vietnam Plus, two million doses will be exported to the two countries between August and October this year.

Last week MARD approved the nationwide use of the two ASF vaccines — NAVET-ASFVAC, co-developed by Navetco Central Veterinary Medicine and scientists from the United States, and AVAC ASF LIVE, developed by AVAC Vietnam JSC. The government agency sent guidance to provincial and city People's Committees and notified localities that the vaccines can be used based on the local disease situation.  

According to the local news outlet, the exports to these two countries, with positive feedback, could lead to further vaccine export opportunities for Vietnam.

Both vaccine firms worked with specialized agencies and other collaborators to test the vaccines. Phan Quang Minh, deputy director of Vietnam's Department of Animal Health, said so far the pilot vaccination of 600,000 doses of both ASF vaccines has given positive results on a small scale.

The Swine Health Information Center and the Global Swine Disease Monitoring Report team at the University of Minnesota acknowledge there are still several significant challenges related to the successful implementation of the vaccine:

Although advances have made in the approval and distribution of an ASF vaccine, there is still no commercially available vaccine approved for emergency use in the United States.

"Offering a tested, safe and effective vaccine to even a limited market is good news," says SHIC Executive Director Paul Sundberg. "It's certainly important progress but there is still a long way to go."