Modern adjuvants do not enhance the efficacy of an inactivated African swine fever virus vaccine preparation

African swine fever (ASF) is among the most devastating viral diseases of pigs. In recent years, the disease has spread alarmingly. Despite intensive research activities, promising vaccine candidates are still lacking. For this reason, a study was undertaken to re-assess inactivated ASFV preparations with state-of-the-art adjuvants. Inactivated preparations of ASF virus (ASFV) “Armenia08” were adjuvanted with either Polygen™ or Emulsigen®-D, respectively, and used to immunize six weaner pigs two times with a three-week interval. Six weeks after the first immunization, animals were challenged with the homologues highly virulent ASFV. Although ASFV-specific antibodies were detectable in all but one vaccinated animal prior to challenge, no protective effect of immunization was observed. All animals developed acute-lethal ASF and had to be euthanized within eleven days post challenge. A slightly accelerated clinical course in vaccinees could even indicate an antibody dependent enhancement, which could also influence efficacy of other vaccine approaches.