U of S scientists approved to test African swine fever vaccines on site

A disease infecting and killing pigs in Africa, Europeand Asia will eventually spread to North America, say researchers at the University of Saskatchewan's Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization-International Vaccine Centre (VIDO-InterVac).

But now, the U of S centre will be able to work toward fighting African swine fever, or ASF.

"It's now affecting several countries in Asia and has made its way into Europe, even in Belgium and the Czech Republic," said Volker Gerdts, VIDO-Intervac'sdirector and CEO.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced this week that VIDO-InterVac has now been approved to work with African swine fever, of ASF.

Thatmeans vaccines for the viruscan be tested in Saskatoon.VIDO-InterVacis the first non-government facility to be approved to work with the ASF virus in Canada.

Before being approved to work with the virus,the lab had sent more than 30vaccines to Winnipeg to be tested.

Economic repercussions

ASFhas infected over 60 per cent of Asian swine, and they are starting to die.

For countries that export pork products, like Canada, ASF could have have severe economic repercussions.

"As soon as you have an outbreak in your country your ability to trade with other countries is lost," said Gerdts. "We're exporting almost 70 per cent of our pork to other countries."

Vaccine research is conducted in one of the centre's high-level labs where scientists are usually clad in protective suits and hoods. ASFcan't be transmitted to humans so the scientists working on the vaccines only need to wear hair nets, gownsand gloves.

The vaccines VIDO-Intervac sent to Winnipeg in the past were eventually tested on pigs. Gerdt says that the lab on the U of S campus will be able to test vaccines on the animals in about a year.

Canada-wide effort

The centre participated in aninternational conference, organized by the federal government. The intent of the conference was to share ASF research and co-ordinate an international effort to eradicate the fever.

"The government of Canada is taking a leadership role to protect our pork industry, economy and Canadians' jobs," said Marie-Claude Bibeau, minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food in a release announcing the research.

The conference also served as a planning session to determine a response to a potential outbreak.