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ARS Home » Research » Research Project #445178

Research Project: Production of Master Seed Virus for Development of Vaccine Against African Swine Fever

Location: Biologics Development Module

Project Number: 3022-32000-026-011-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Sep 1, 2023
End Date: Aug 31, 2026

Objective:
African Swine Fever virus (ASFV) is a virus which causes a hemorrhagic fever with high mortality rates in domestic pigs; some isolates can cause death as quickly as a week after infection. A vaccine is needed to protect swine herds from this virus. In order to create a vaccine, a master seed virus (MSV) must be produced in clean, uninfected, permissive cells. The MSV will be produced in a BSL-2+ facility with shower-out capability, according to regulations outlined in 9 CFR. The MSV will be sent to the Center for Veterinary Biologics (CVB) for confirmatory testing and approval.

Approach:
Task 1. Cooperator will receive a Veterinary Services (VS) permit for African Swine Fever (ASF) vaccine candidate strain. Task 2. ARS will send Cooperator ASF vaccine strain and primary swine macrophage cells. Task 3. Cooperator will prepare BSL-2+ facility for master seed production, including all needed equipment and materials. Task 4. ARS will produce candidate master seed virus (MSV) in facility. Task 5. Cooperator will store MSV and transfer entire inventory to ARS upon request.