A DISC vaccine for African Swine Fever

African swine fever is a fatal infectious disease of pigs, which is currently affecting several regions around the world. It has spread throughout Asia and poses a high biosecurity threat to Australia.

Scientists around the world have been working on a vaccine for African swine fever for many years with little success. The most promising African swine fever virus vaccine candidates are live-attenuated vaccines. These are not ideal vaccines for use, as there are some safety issues, such as reversion to virulence can occur. Studies have also revealed the vaccines did not show high protection against other endemic strains of the virus that may be co-circulating.

To find a vaccine solution that can overcome these issues requires an innovative approach. In this project, we will be investigating the use of a technique that generates a defective infectious single cycle virus, referred to as a DISC virus.

Vaccination with a DISC virus limits the infection within host cells to just one round, stopping further spread but allowing expression of an array of the viral proteins that are required for the generation of protective immune responses. 

Another issue that we will be addressing in this work is the difficulty of differentiating between a vaccinated animal and one that has been exposed to a virus. This is an important distinction for importing and exporting of meat products and establishing freedom from a disease.

We will also be developing cell lines which are an important part of a vaccine development process. The production of cell lines that can carry the vaccine are a critical step in the eventual downstream manufacture of candidate vaccines.

This project will expand our understanding of the virology of African swine fever virus and form the basis of new capabilities that can be applied to other challenging vaccine targets for human and animal health.