Home African Swine Fever [Rationally attenuated candidates] Development of a rationally attenuated vaccine that is safe and effective, prevents transmission, requires only one dose, can be parenterally and oral administration, and provides cross-protection
African Swine Fever roadmap:
Vaccines

Roadmap for the development of a candidate vaccine for ASF

Download ASF Vaccine Roadmap

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Rationally attenuated candidates

Dependencies

Next steps

Rationally attenuated candidates

Research Question

  • Replicating ASFV are likely to give the most appropriate immune response but wild-type virus manipulates the host response. The aim is to reduce the virulence so that the vaccinated animal can mount a protective immune response. (The vaccine should allow the differentiation between infected and vaccinated animals)

Research Gaps and Challenges

  • Lack of heterologous protection
  • Possible link between immunogenicity and pathogenicity of the virus
  • Ensure that vaccination prevents excretion of the organism – both the vaccine strain and wild type virus or any combination of the two that may have been generated
  • Achieve long duration and fast onset of immunity
  • Determine safety characteristics associated with experimental live attenuated
    vaccines
  • Development of recombinant ASFV is still laborious

Solution Routes

  • Identify suitable strains
  • Create GM organisms lacking virulence and immunomodulatory factors
  • Monitor the immune response following immunisation with the various candidates
  • Develop improved systems to manipulate ASFV
  • Perform challenge experiments with the various vaccine candidates, including challenge with other strains
  • Identify more suitable cell lines for ASFV production

Dependencies

  • Generate stable genetically modified attenuated organisms
  • Identify virulence factors in ASFV
  • Identify immunomodulators in ASFV
  • Identify gene function ASFV
  • Identify correlates of protection
  • (Identify DIVA targets)
  • Immune response: identify mechanism of immune evasion, and mechanism of protective immunity
  • Better understand virus replication
  • Develop suitable cell lines for production

State Of the Art

  • Pigs immunised with live attenuated ASF viruses containing engineered deletions of specific ASFV virulence/host range genes could be protected to different levels when challenged with homologous parental virus

Projects

What activities are planned or underway?

Africa's Long Depression: The Growth and Debt Crises of 1975-2000

Planned Completion date 01/03/2027

Participating Country(s):

United KingdomIconUnited Kingdom