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Vaccines
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Control Strategies and Vaccines for African Swine Fever—What Is to...
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Control Strategies and Vaccines for African Swine Fever—What Is to Come

A special issue of Vaccines (ISSN 2076-393X). This special issue belongs to the section "Veterinary Vaccines".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 3048

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Camina Gallardo Frontaura

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
WOAH, FAO and European Union Reference Laboratory for African Swine Fever (EURL), Centro de Investigación en Sanidad Animal, INIA-CISA, Valdeolmos, 28130 Madrid, Spain
Interests: African Swine Fever; animals emerging diseases; animal epidemiology; PCR; DNA; genomics; molecular biology; genetics; sequencing; RNA; cell culture; electrophoresis; gel electrophoresis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Marisa Arias

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
CISA, Valdeolmos, Spain
Interests: ASFV

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

African Swine Fever (ASF) is a devastating viral infectious disease that represents the biggest challenge for the pig sector worldwide. The causative agent is a large, complex DNA virus. ASF is present in more than 175 countries and territories across five continents, causing serious sanitary and economic losses. The disease affects both domestic pigs (DP) and wild boar (WB), making eradication difficult in endemic areas where viruses of different virulence and clinical characteristics coexist.

Considering the impact of ASF and the difficulties in controlling virus spread, the need for a vaccine and associated control strategies as essential measures to safeguard animal health has reached broad consensus. However, despite decades of investment and resources, a safe and effective commercial vaccine is still not available worldwide. For the only licenced vaccines in some Southeast Asian countries, safety concerns have emerged following their use, including mortality, abortions, and evidence of reversion to virulence, which negatively impacts the reproductive performance of sows.

The purpose of this Special Issue of Vaccines is to provide updated knowledge and research on key aspects of the disease, including the development of improved vaccines for WB and DP, together with accompanying diagnostic tests, the genomic factors influencing safety, cross-protection and stability, field and in vivo experimental trials with novel vaccine candidates, and control strategies and vaccination programmes for this complex condition. Particular emphasis is given to research addressing the major limitations of live-attenuated vaccines, especially their efficacy in cross-protection.

Dr. Camina Gallardo Frontaura
Dr. Marisa Arias
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Vaccines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • African Swine Fever
  • ASF
  • vaccine candidates
  • vaccine safety
  • genomic markers
  • genetic stability
  • vaccination
  • protection
  • immune response against infection
  • immune response against vaccination
  • ASF vaccine efficacy
  • vaccine cross-protection
  • DIVA test
  • control strategies
  • wildboar
  • vaccination programmes

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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22 pages, 1444 KB  
Article
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, Sandra Blome, Nuria Bujan, Christian Gortázar, Theresa Holzum, Steffen Ortmann, David Relimpio, Alexander Schäfer, Elisenda Viaplana, Ad Vos and Virginia Friedrichs
Vaccines 2026, 14(2), 193; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines14020193 - 21 Feb 2026
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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. [...] Read more.
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. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Control Strategies and Vaccines for African Swine Fever—What Is to Come)
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24 pages, 7070 KB  
Article
A Pool of Ferritin Nanoparticles Delivering Six Proteins of African Swine Fever Virus Induces Robust Humoral and Cellular Immune Responses in Pigs
by Zhanhao Lu, Dailang Zhong, Xin Song, Jing Lan, Yanjin Wang, Rui Luo, Shengmei Chen, Ruojia Huang, Hua-Ji Qiu, Yongfeng Li, Tao Wang and Yuan Sun
Vaccines 2026, 14(1), 93; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines14010093 - 19 Jan 2026
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Abstract
Background/Objectives: Inadequate characterization of protective antigens poses a significant challenge to the development of vaccines for African swine fever (ASF), particularly for antigen-dependent formulations such as subunit, mRNA, and recombinant viral vector vaccines. To address this, we aimed to screen African swine [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Inadequate characterization of protective antigens poses a significant challenge to the development of vaccines for African swine fever (ASF), particularly for antigen-dependent formulations such as subunit, mRNA, and recombinant viral vector vaccines. To address this, we aimed to screen African swine fever virus (ASFV) antigens and enhance their immunogenicity using a nanoparticle delivery platform. Methods: Here, six ASFV antigens (p30, p54, pE120R, pH124R, pE184L, and CD2v) were purified and used to immunize pigs individually. The effects of antibodies induced by these six antigens on ASFV replication or hemadsorption was evaluated in primary porcine alveolar macrophages (PAMs). These six antigens were, respectively, conjugated to ferritin via SpyTag/SpyCatcher to prepare six ferritin nanoparticles. A cocktail of the six mixed antigens or a cocktail of the six mixed nanoparticles was used to immunize pigs separately, and the differences in induced humoral and cellular immune responses were compared. Results: Antibodies generated against p30, p54, pE120R, pH124R, and pE184L in immunized pigs significantly inhibited ASFV replication in PAMs, while anti-CD2v antibodies specifically obstructed the hemadsorption of ASFV. Notably, immunization with a cocktail of these antigen-conjugated nanoparticles elicited a stronger virus-inhibitory antibody response compared to immunization with a cocktail of antigen monomers. Furthermore, nanoparticle immunization induced robust cellular immunity, evidenced by elevated serum IFN-γ, increased numbers of ASFV-specific IFN-γ-secreting cells, and an expanded CD8+ T cell population. Conclusions: Our study identifies a set of promising ASFV antigen candidates and demonstrates that ferritin nanoparticle delivery synergistically enhances both humoral and cellular immune responses against ASFV, providing a rational strategy for multi-antigen ASF vaccine design. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Control Strategies and Vaccines for African Swine Fever—What Is to Come)
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