Source: AGWEB, 4/9/19


The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has been intensifying African swine fever (ASF) vaccine research efforts since November in collaboration with the USDA. The African Swine Fever Task Force was created, based out of S&T’s Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC), to tackle this threat to the swine industry. “There is no vaccine. In addition to killing most infected pigs, African swine fever also gets into the background in ticks and is very difficult to eradicate,” said Larry Barrett, S&T PIADC director. “The primary focus is to improve diagnostics and vaccines, so pork producers can protect their animals in the future.”

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