According to reporting in the South China Morning Post, China’s agriculture ministry reported positive results on a trial vaccine for African swine fever developed by the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute. Though this is a promising step in the fight against the deadly pig disease, officials stress that it is still to early to say when the vaccine will be widely available.

Clinical trials of the vaccine were carried out on 3,000 pigs between April and June of this year across multiple Chinese provinces. The vaccine was delivered to piglets and sows at 10 and 100 times the suggested immunisation doses. Results from the studies suggest that the increased dosage generated an 80 percent immune response in test subjects. The researchers report that during the 20-week observation period, the vaccinated pigs showed no clinical abnormalities or signs of infection.

Read the full story in the South China Morning Post.