Classical swine fever (CSF): a historical review of research and vaccine production on the Isle of Riems.

A review on classical swine fever (CSF) research and vaccine production is given about four historical periods (1924-1948, 1949-1969, 1970-1991, since 1992). Similar as to research on foot and mouth disease, applied topics as diagnosis, pathogenesis, epidemiology and control represented the CSF research over many years. The development of vaccines and application procedures, e.g. oral and aerogenic immunisation and combined vaccines for large pig farms were the prominent investigations between 1950 and the middle of 1980s. After being reduced in the first years after affiliation to the Federal Research Centre for Virus Diseases of Animals, CSF is one of the main topics of the research on the Isle of Riems, not at least because nowadays the German National Reference Laboratory for CSF was established on the Island.