African Swine Fever roadmap:
Control Strategies
Roadmap for the development of control strategies for ASF
Download ASF Control Strategy Roadmap5
Transmission pathways within and between host species
Transmission pathways within and between host species
Research Question
- To investigate the transmission pathways within and between host species, including domestic and wild swine
Research Gaps and Challenges
- Investigate basic parameters governing host to host infection, including domestic and wild swine as well as the ticks
- Investigate the role of swill feeding in ASF transmission
- To assess ASF time survival in dry cured meat
Dependencies
- Assessing the relevance of ticks in ASF epidemiology
State Of the Art
- Two types of transmission cycles have been defined for ASF based mainly on the mode of transmission of the virus among different pig populations: a domestic pig cycle and sylvatic-wild pig cycle. To this, an additional cycle has been added, the environmental cycle, which includes the issue of wild boar and persistence in the environment as observed in the Baltics and Central Europe. The presence/absence of arthropod vectors (i.e., tick species) in the affected area will impact the spread and maintenance of the virus in the environment. In sub-Saharan Africa, ASFV is maintained in a sylvatic cycle between wild suids (warthogs) and argasid ticks of the genus Ornithodoros. However, other wild pigs such as bush pigs do not inhabit burrows, and therefore would most likely spread ASFV via direct transmission, although evidence for such occurrences is limited. In endemic areas of Africa, infected ticks and warthogs are the source of virus responsible for disease outbreaks in domestic swine. Once established, virus is efficiently contact-transmitted between domestic swine. Infection through direct contact between domestic pigs and warthogs has not been observed. The initial expression of ASF in a previously ASF-free country could be variable and unpredictable due to the myriad of host factors and the broad diversity of virulence among strains of ASF viruses. Thus, ASF may show unique regional patterns of presentation, associated with unique set of risk factors that should be assessed to establish proper surveillance and control strategies
Projects
What activities are planned or underway?
African Swine Fever virus inactivation by feed additives in vitro
Planned Completion date 01/01/2022
Source Countries:
Netherlands
The incursion risk of African swine fever for the Netherlands by human-mediated routes
Planned Completion date 01/01/2022
Source Countries:
Netherlands