Hanoi, Feb 1 (IANS): The locally-made vaccine against African swine fever (ASF) is expected to be distributed nationwide this month in Vietnam, local media reported on Wednesday.

In early January, the first four batches of the vaccine produced in 2022 were tested and met the quality requirements, Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported, citing the vaccine producer company AVAC Vietnam.

The pilot injection of 600,544 pigs was conducted at 545 farms, and 5,958 samples were taken for testing. The results showed that 93.34 per cent of the samples met the technical requirements, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the VNA report.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien requested the vaccine producer to continue evaluating the immunity level of the vaccine after injection, and give strict guidelines and recommendations for livestock farmers.

He asked relevant units to have detailed technical reports on the administering process of 600,000 doses of the vaccine, so that the ministry can make accurate assessments before it is to be used on a large scale, VNA reported.

ASF is an infectious swine disease that first appeared in Africa in 1921 with a mortality rate of up to 100 percent.

In 2022, the country reported nearly 1,200 ASF outbreaks in 52 cities and provinces, leading to the culling of nearly 55,000 pigs.