Abstract
African swine fever (ASF) is one of the most important diseases in Suidae due to its significant health and socioeconomic consequences and represents a major threat to the European pig industry, especially in the absence of any available treatment or vaccine. In fact, with its high mortality rate and the subsequent trade restrictions imposed on affected countries, ASF can dramatically disrupt the pig industry in afflicted countries. In September 2018, ASF was unexpectedly identified in wild boars from southern Belgium in the province of Luxembourg, not far from the Franco-Belgian border. The French authorities rapidly commissioned an expert opinion on the risk of ASF introduction and dissemination into metropolitan France. In Europe, the main transmission routes of the virus comprise direct contact between infected and susceptible animals and indirect transmission through contaminated material or feed. However, the seasonality of the disease in some pig farms in Baltic countries, including outbreaks in farms with high biosecurity levels, have led to questions on the possible involvement of arthropods in the transmission of the virus. This review explores the current body of knowledge on the most common arthropod families present in metropolitan France. We examine their potential role in spreading ASF—by active biological or mechanical transmission or by passive transport or ingestion—in relation to their bio-ecological properties. It also highlights the existence of significant gaps in our knowledge on vector ecology in domestic and wild boar environments and in vector competence for ASFV transmission. Filling these gaps is essential to further understanding ASF transmission in order to thus implement appropriate management measures.
Highlights
Vector-borne diseases (VBD) in domestic animals and wildlife disrupt ecosystems, impose a significant burden on animal health, and are an impediment to socioeconomic development [1]
In addition to further viral spread via direct contact, mechanical transmission by S. calcitrans could accelerate disease spread between pigs, which could shorten the time between the introduction and the occurrence of the epizootic peak
It is well established that direct and indirect contact between infected and non-infected Suidae are the main routes of African swine fever virus (ASFV) transmission in Europe
Summary
Vector-borne diseases (VBD) in domestic animals and wildlife disrupt ecosystems, impose a significant burden on animal health, and are an impediment to socioeconomic development [1]. During the 1957 ASF outbreak on the Iberian Peninsula in Europe, Ornithodoros erraticus soft ticks were described to be involved in an intermediate transmission cycle between ticks and domestic pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus) In this case, ticks act as a viral reservoir, enabling the virus to persist locally in the environment [14]. The virus can be transmitted directly between infected pigs and healthy pigs or indirectly via food products of porcine origin in which the virus has persisted, through what is called the domestic transmission cycle [15] In this latter cycle, which concerns the majority of ASFV infections worldwide, none of the natural disease reservoirs, i.e., Ornithodoros ticks and wild. Description of the Ecology and Putative Vector Role of Different Genera/Families of Arthropods
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