Swine Fever Vaccine

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19106, 29 August 1936, Page 13

Swine Fever Vaccine

luiiiitiiiiui By “The Gleaner.”

A SERIOUS outbreak of swine fever occurred in the North Island some

years ago, and in the process of stamping it out many valuable pigs had to bo destroyed. Swine fever is a trouble that arises from obscure causes at times, and a general knowledge of its incidence is limited and the possibilities of theavv losses at times cannot be ignored.

Information now comes from America that a new vaccine lias been discovered by an ,official research worker under the United States Department of Agriculture. It is claimed to be 99 per cent, effective. The new vaccine is of the “dead” variety,

hat is to say, there is no danger of infection of any kind resulting from it,

and incorporates a dye known as “crystal violet.’’ It represents the culmination of 30 years’ study of swine fever by Dr. M. Dorset, who

died in July, 1935, before his latest attempt to produce an effective vaccine had been put to the test. While it is recognised that further tests under normal farm conditions will be necessary, it is considered that the prospects that the new vaccine will prove practically effective aro distinctly bright. “Yv r e are in close touch with the work of the United States Department of Agriculture, and are following thou experiments with interest,” an expert of the Ministry of Agriculture stated. “The fact that Dr Dorset’s vaccine is described as ‘dead’ would be a definite advance. There would bo no possibility that vaccination would result in the appearance of carriers among the pig population. It is for this reason Hint, hitherto we havo never encouraged vaccination against swine fever in tliiij country. The idea is that the dye-stuff kills the virus of the disease, but has no effect ,on tho ‘antibodies’ developed against it. Tho chemical, phenol, can be used in tho same way in the case of rabies vac-

cine, but to try to use it on swine fever vaccine would destroy its protective value at the same time as killing the virus.” Attempts to eliminate swine fever from Great Britain by a policy of slaughter cost ill® taxpayer a large sum of money annually from 1594 onwards until the war.

Mortality varies from 10 to 100 per cent according to tho severity of individual outbreaks.