Oral Bait Immunization of Eurasian Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) Against African Swine Fever with “ASFV-G-ΔI177L”: Bait Performance, Immunogenicity, and Environmental Monitoring

Beckmann, Jörg; Blome, Sandra; Bujan, Nuria; Gortázar, Christian; Holzum, Theresa; Ortmann, Steffen; Relimpio, David; Schäfer, Alexander; Viaplana, Elisenda; Vos, Ad; Friedrichs, Virginia

doi:10.3390/vaccines14020193

Open AccessArticle

Oral Bait Immunization of Eurasian Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) Against African Swine Fever with “ASFV-G-ΔI177L”: Bait Performance, Immunogenicity, and Environmental Monitoring

by

Jörg Beckmann

^1,2,3

,

Sandra Blome

^2,4,*

,

Nuria Bujan

⁵,

Christian Gortázar

⁶,

Theresa Holzum

⁴,

Steffen Ortmann

⁷,

David Relimpio

⁶

,

Alexander Schäfer

⁴

,

Elisenda Viaplana

⁵,

Ad Vos

⁸ and

Virginia Friedrichs

^2,4

¹

Nuremberg Zoo, 90480 Nuremberg, Germany

²

IUCN SSC Wild Pig Specialist Group, 50735 Cologne, Germany

³

Tapir and Suiform Taxon Advisory Group of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria, 1018 DC Amsterdam, The Netherlands

⁴

Friedrich Loeffler Institut, 17493 Greifswald, Germany

⁵

Zoetis Manufacturing and Research, 17813 L’Hostalnou de Bianya (Olot), Spain

⁶

SaBio, Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC, CSIC & UCLM), 13005 Ciudad Real, Spain

⁷

Ceva Tiergesundheit GmbH, 14469 Potsdam, Germany

⁸

Ceva Tiergesundheit GmbH, 33500 Libourne, France

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Vaccines 2026, 14(2), 193; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines14020193

Submission received: 22 January 2026 / Revised: 17 February 2026 / Accepted: 18 February 2026 / Published: 21 February 2026

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Control Strategies and Vaccines for African Swine Fever—What Is to Come)

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Abstract

Background/Objectives: African swine fever is currently the most devastating viral disease affecting domestic and wild suids, causing major economic losses and severe impacts on natural populations. Oral immunization could become an important tool to control the panzootic and support wild pig conservation. However, this requires safe and effective vaccines, baits accepted by target species, and vaccine reservoirs that reliably release the vaccine during bait intake while maintaining vaccine integrity. Methods: We evaluated different bait types and vaccine containers in four wild Suiformes species, including Eurasian wild boar. In the same wild boar, we assessed oral vaccination with the live attenuated vaccine candidate “ASFV-G-ΔI177L”. Environmental monitoring approaches were applied to detect potential virus shedding, and vaccine immunogenicity and dissemination were evaluated. Vaccine stability was tested in vitro in two container types under different temperature conditions. Results: Bait uptake and container performance varied between manufacturers and among species. Environmental samples were largely negative for vaccine virus genome under controlled laboratory conditions, with only a few positive cotton ropes (0.43% of all samples). After oral bait vaccination, 45% (9/20) of wild boar seroconverted, with a higher proportion in animals receiving the vaccine in the slightly less attractive bait (gelatine-based). Vaccine virus dissemination was limited to a small number of organs, including gastrohepatic and mandibular lymph nodes. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that wild pigs can be vaccinated orally with “ASFV-G-ΔI177L” while virus shedding appears minimal. Although the tested baits show potential for multiple target species, baits and containers require optimization. Environmental monitoring methods also need refinement for field application.

Keywords: African swine fever virus; environmental DNA detection; immunogenicity; non-invasive sampling; oral vaccination; Suiformes; wild boar; conservation

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MDPI and ACS Style

Beckmann, J.; Blome, S.; Bujan, N.; Gortázar, C.; Holzum, T.; Ortmann, S.; Relimpio, D.; Schäfer, A.; Viaplana, E.; Vos, A.; et al. Oral Bait Immunization of Eurasian Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) Against African Swine Fever with “ASFV-G-ΔI177L”: Bait Performance, Immunogenicity, and Environmental Monitoring. Vaccines 2026, 14, 193. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines14020193

AMA Style

Beckmann J, Blome S, Bujan N, Gortázar C, Holzum T, Ortmann S, Relimpio D, Schäfer A, Viaplana E, Vos A, et al. Oral Bait Immunization of Eurasian Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) Against African Swine Fever with “ASFV-G-ΔI177L”: Bait Performance, Immunogenicity, and Environmental Monitoring. Vaccines. 2026; 14(2):193. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines14020193

Chicago/Turabian Style

Beckmann, Jörg, Sandra Blome, Nuria Bujan, Christian Gortázar, Theresa Holzum, Steffen Ortmann, David Relimpio, Alexander Schäfer, Elisenda Viaplana, Ad Vos, and et al. 2026. "Oral Bait Immunization of Eurasian Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) Against African Swine Fever with “ASFV-G-ΔI177L”: Bait Performance, Immunogenicity, and Environmental Monitoring" Vaccines 14, no. 2: 193. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines14020193

APA Style

Beckmann, J., Blome, S., Bujan, N., Gortázar, C., Holzum, T., Ortmann, S., Relimpio, D., Schäfer, A., Viaplana, E., Vos, A., & Friedrichs, V. (2026). Oral Bait Immunization of Eurasian Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) Against African Swine Fever with “ASFV-G-ΔI177L”: Bait Performance, Immunogenicity, and Environmental Monitoring. Vaccines, 14(2), 193. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines14020193

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Oral Bait Immunization of Eurasian Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) Against African Swine Fever with “ASFV-G-ΔI177L”: Bait Performance, Immunogenicity, and Environmental Monitoring

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