The European Commission has given the go ahead for the EU’s Community Reference Laboratory to evaluate a new classical swine fever discriminatory test.
The new test will enable pigs with a vaccine to be distinguished from those with the disease. If the checks are positive, the Commission should approve the tests for use across the European Union; results should be available by 30 June.
The problem with swine fever vaccines, said a Commission note, is that they are “hampered by a lack of a reliable discriminatory test able to distinguish between vaccinated animals and infected ones,” restricting the trade in healthy animals and deterring the use of the medicine. An effective test would ensure “better regulation of classical swine fever” and “EU legislation of the disease.”
