By Bloomberg News

China has tested a domestically developed vaccine for African swine fever on hog farms in three provinces, and the trials have shown progress, according to a state media report posted on the agriculture ministry’s website on Wednesday.

The vaccine from the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute was used in field tests on 3,000 hogs in the northeast province of Heilongjiang, the northwestern region of Xinjiang and the central province of Henan from April to June, it said. Vaccinated piglets grow well, with no clinical abnormality, while most sows have no miscarriages. After immunization, the death rate is less than 1%.

The Harbin Institute, overseen by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said in March it had developed a live attenuated vaccine which proved to be safe and effective in laboratory testing.

ASF first broke out in China in 2018, devastating hog herds in the top consumer and producer of pork and spreading to neighboring countries. Global researchers have been racing to develop the world's first vaccine.

The institute conducted environmental release testing in March followed by field testing in the provinces, it said. More testing is in progress and the institute plans to speed up research and development, it said, without giving any timeframe for commercial production.

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story:

James Poole in Singapore at [email protected];

Niu Shuping in Beijing at [email protected]

To contact the editors responsible for this story:

Anna Kitanaka at [email protected]

James Poole

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