Epidemiology and control of African swine fever
The haemorrhagic disease ASF is caused by the African swine fever virus (ASFV) and is highly prevalent in sub-Saharan African countries, while in Europe it is currently confined to Sardinia in Italy and it was recently introduced to Caucasian countries and Russian Federation. ASFV virulence properties are important to determine the type of the disease, which can vary from acute to chronic or asymptomatic. Evidence obtained during outbreaks in Eastern and Southern African regions often indicated the lack of serum antibodies despite the high prevalence of ASFV in domestic pigs. Combined with the increasing mobility of people, animals and goods across the globe, this poses a great challenge for the prevention and control of ASF. Currently, strict sanitary measures are the only control measures for preventing transmission. To address this, the EU-funded ASFRISK (Evaluating and controlling the risk of African swine fever in the EU) project investigated various critical aspects of ASF including epidemiology and risk assessment. In this context, project partners developed a series of epidemiological methods and decision support tools to provide information to policy makers on ASF. Additionally, they generated valuable serological and molecular diagnostic tools suitable for use in reference laboratories, as well as for rapid on-site detection of ASFV. In conjunction with existing tests, these novel diagnostic tests will promote more efficient and earlier diagnosis of the disease. Relevant training on these tools was provided to professionals from Animal Health Institutions in EU, Africa, Asia and eastern European countries. Considerable effort went towards characterising the interaction between ASFV and host at the cellular and molecular levels. Researchers produced different attenuated recombinant virus strains, which could serve in the future as vaccine candidates, thereby expanding existing control strategies against ASF. Taken together, the deliverables of the ASFRISK study will assist in the formulation of novel strategies to better prevent and control ASF. Long-term, this will translate into sustained EU agriculture without the negative socio-economic consequences and animal welfare issues posed by ASF.
