Senizen Receives World Organisation for Animal Health Certification for African Swine Fever Diagnostic Product

Senizen announced on the 3rd that its African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV) diagnostic kit, the Genelix™ ASFV Real-time PCR Detection Kit, has been certified by the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH).

African Swine Fever is a hemorrhagic infectious disease found in wild boars in the African region and is currently spreading worldwide. In acute cases, the fatality rate can reach up to 100%. It is a major target for various animal health-related organizations. When the disease occurs, the outbreak must be immediately reported to the WOAH, and all international trade related to pigs is completely suspended. In South Korea, it is designated and managed as a Class 1 statutory infectious disease under the Livestock Infectious Disease Control Act.

Since there are currently no available vaccines or treatments for African Swine Fever, virus diagnosis is crucial to prevent its spread. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs’ “Damage Status Due to Livestock Infectious Disease Outbreaks in the Last Five Years (2018~September 2023),” compensation for damages to domestic pig farms in 2019 amounted to approximately 133.4 billion KRW.

In South Korea, infection cases are steadily discovered every year, causing significant economic losses annually. In Europe, ASF has spread since the 1950s and has become endemic, while in Southeast Asia, about 30-40% of all pig farms have been affected by ASF. In China, ASF began to spread extensively from 2018, with an estimated 130 million pigs culled out of a total of 430 million pigs. The damage is estimated to be in the hundreds of trillions of KRW. Thus, continuous damage is also being experienced overseas.

The ASF diagnostic product certified by WOAH this time is capable of diagnosing the African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV). It applies the Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (Real-time PCR) method, enabling very fast and accurate diagnosis. Real-time PCR was adopted as a standard method by many countries during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Park Jeong-woong, CEO of Senizen, said, “Through this product certification, our excellent gene marker discovery capability and active sample acquisition ability through industry-academia-research networks have been validated.” He added, “We will secure the market by supplying superior ASFV diagnostic products in the rapidly growing Southeast Asian animal health market and expand sales through export performance.”