Genetic analysis of African swine fever virus based on major genes encoding p72, p54 and p30

Abstract

African swine fever (ASF) is reported as a highly contagious hemorrhage lethal disease of domestic and wild swine. The causative agent of ASF is a large enveloped DNA virus with a complex structure. There are twenty-four ASFV genotypes described to date. However, in Vietnam, only genotypes II had been previously described. The genetic characterization of ASFV enhances the understanding of ASF epidemiology in terms of the extent, severity, source, and potential genetic variations among ASFV strains circulating in Southern Vietnam. Twenty ASFV strains were collected from pigs with ASFV-infected clinical signs from 10 provinces during 2019 - 2020. Partial B646L (p72) gene, complete E183L (p54), and CP204L (p30) genes were amplified, purified, and sequenced. Phylogenetic analysis confirmed the circulation of genotype II by both the partial B646L (p72) and full-length E183 (p54) gene sequencing. Analysis of the p72, p54, and p30 regions did not indicate any change in the nucleotide and amino acid sequences among these strains. The results of this study revealed that these ASFVs shared high homology to ASFV isolates detected in Northern Vietnam and China.