A Chinese vaccine designed to combat the African Swine Fever virus is so far proving safe in clinical trials that are underway. The official Chinese news agency says that pushes hog farming a step closer to be able to prevent one of the world’s most devastating livestock diseases. A Reuters article says the development progress is being watched closely by pig farmers across the globe because there is currently no cure or vaccine to use against ASF. The disease kills virtually every animal it infects and has devastated China’s hog herds since it first showed up in 2018. The virus is still killing pigs in China and broke out in other spots across Asia since then. Chinese researchers at the Harvin Veterinary Research Institute, which is part of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, say they’ve developed a safe attenuated vaccine that has proven effective against the African Swine Fever virus during testing in laboratories. Clinical trials of the vaccine were given the go-ahead in March and have been underway on 3,000 pigs in three different locations in China, including the northeast, far west, and the central parts of the country.