Marker vaccines against classical swine fever - A review

Classical swine fever virus (CSFV) is the causative agent of one of the most devastating porcine haemorrhagic viral diseases, classical swine fever (CSF). Two main strategies to control CSF outbreaks are systematic prophylactic vaccination with live attenuated vaccines and non-vaccination stamping out policy. But these strategies have many limitations. The vaccination with live attenuated CSF vaccines makes it extremely difficult to distinguish vaccinated from infected animals since CSFV replicates in the host, even at very low rates. Thus, there is a clear need for efficient and safer marker vaccines to facilitate the control of future CSF outbreaks. Marker vaccines allowing distinction between naturally infected from vaccinated swine could complement "stamping out" measures. Here, in this review we have presented the various approaches to candidate CSFV marker vaccines. These methods are also helpful for the development of new generation vaccines against various diseases. It can be expected that new potent marker vaccines against CSFV might be commercially available and used in systematic prophylactic vaccination or emergency vaccination in the coming years.