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Pathogen Page

African Swine Fever Virus

I. General Information

1. NCBI Taxonomy ID:

2. Disease:

African Swine Fever

3. Introduction

African swine fever virus (ASFV) was first described by Montgomery in Kenya in 1921. Since then, many African, European and American countries have been affected by the disease. It is a very complex and large enveloped DNA virus with a genome of 170–190 kbp. It is classified as a unique member of the Asfarviridae family, genus Asfivirus. The virus presents high genetic and antigenic variability, with 22 different genotypes described based on the p72 sequences. African swine fever is considered a haemorrhagic disease due to the typical haemorrhagic symptoms of the hyperacute and acute forms of the diseases. However, chronic and asymptomatic forms of the disease may also be presented without these characteristic symptoms. African swine fever clinical signs may vary from a hyperacute form, with 100% mortality from days 4–7 post-infection and typical haemorrhagic symptoms, to a less common asymptomatic and chronic form that can turn animals into carriers (Sanchez-Vizcaino et al., 2012).

4. Host Ranges and Animal Models

Wild pigs, wild boars, domestic pigs, ticks (Sanchez-Vizcaino et al., 2012)

5. Host Protective Immunity

Protective immunity against ASFV is not fully understood. Although ASFV infection induces small proportion of neutralizing antibodies against some virion proteins, this protection is not enough for viral challenge. Cellular immunity also plays an important role in immune protection against ASFV infection, specifically, cell activity of CD8 lymphocytes and natural killer cells (NK). Cross-protection has been also demonstrated by challenging infected animals with homologous isolates (Sanchez-Vizcaino et al., 2012). A safe and effective commercial vaccine does not exist yet.

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