Ottawa—A vaccine development centre at the University of Saskatchewan will develop and test treatments for African swine fever (ASF) in a project with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.The University's Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization-International Vaccine Centre (VIDO-InterVac) will work on vaccines and antivirals that can be used against the ASF virus that kills pigs but poses no threat human health threat.VIDO-InterVac, which has a Containment Level 3-Agriculture (CL3-Ag) facility in Saskatoon, is the first non-government facility in Canada to work with the ASF virus, CFIA said in a statement.The move is seen as another step toward the long-promised Pan-Canadian ASF Action Plan and will support Canada's preparedness strategy by increasing research capacity, CFIA said.John Ross, Executive Director of the Canadian Pork Council, said development of the action plan is “advancing on several different fronts, but more work needs to be done.”Dealing with ASF was a much-discussed issue during the recent Banff Pork Seminar, he said. In mid-January, CPC will meet with Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau to discuss next steps. Then it, along with the CFIA, will send representatives to two meetings in Denmark where ASF will be the key topic.“There will also be an industry-government, face-to-face, stock taking meeting in Ottawa the first week of February. The group will be focused on next steps in implementing the plan,” he said.CFIA's project with VIDO-InterVac extends ongoing collaborations aimed at developing and testing vaccines and antivirals for ASF. Canada's goal has been to prevent the introduction of the deadly hog disease into Canada and to set up processes for containing it if it is found in the country. Such a discovery would be a major financial challenge for the industry because it could be shut out of many international markets.CFIA said, “As there are currently no vaccines or treatments approved for use against this pig disease, this research is an important step towards the development and testing of vaccines and antivirals for ASF that could serve to protect Canada's pork sector.“VIDO-InterVac has developed several new vaccines for animal diseases that include porcine epidemic diarrhea virus and contagious bovine pleuropneumonia.”Jaspinder Komal, Chief Veterinary Officer for Canada, said, “Science plays an important role in the fight against ASF. Supporting VIDO-InterVac's vaccine research is a key step forward in stopping the progress of this deadly disease.”In 2018, approximately $4 billion worth of Canadian pork was exported to 87 countries, making Canada a top-three exporter of pork in the world.Canada's pork industry supports more than 100,000 direct and indirect jobs and contributes about $24 billion annually to the Canadian economy.Among the behind-the-scenes work on ASF and an action plan, its staff and board members are participating in a series of steering committees and working groups.CPC's Chairman Rick Bergmann and board member Egan Brockhoff have met with the National Pork Producers Council's Board to discuss ASF efforts.An emergency operations centres' meeting has enabled federal, provincial and industry level representatives to work together on ASF preparedness, planning,response and recovery. A follow-up meeting will be held in the spring.While Canada has bilateral zoning agreements with the United States and the European Union, similar agreements are required with other trading partners of which Japan is the most important, CPC said.CPC, the Canadian Meat Council, Canada Pork International, Global Affairs Canada, CFIA and Agriculture Canada are pursuing a coordinated approach to zoning in Canada.Alex Binkley is a freelance journalist and writes for domestic and international publications about agriculture, food and transportation issues. He's also the author of two science fiction novels with more in the works.