Eradication Of African Swine Fever Research Articles

Understanding Smallholder Pigkeepers' Awareness and Perceptions of African Swine Fever and Its Control Measures in Ukraine.

African swine fever (ASF) has posed a significant threat to Ukrainian pig farming since its identification in 2012. In this study, recognising the pivotal role of pigkeepers in disease control, we conducted ten focus groups involving 52 smallholders across eight regions in Ukraine. Using participatory methods, we revealed their awareness of ASF signs, transmission routes, preventive measures, and the perceptions of stakeholders involved in ASF control. Furthermore, we identified the smallholders' acceptance of eradication and restriction measures, the perceived impact of zoning consequences, and their main sources of ASF information. Smallholders identified fever and skin haemorrhage as the most indicative signs of ASF and highlighted rodents as a primary transmission concern. Disinfection was seen as the most effective measure for preventing the introduction of ASF. Pigkeepers who perceived their stakeholder role in ASF control showed more trust in themselves and veterinarians than in central veterinary authorities. Farm-level ASF eradication measures were generally accepted; however, culling within the protection zone was least accepted, with economic losses listed as the most impactful consequence for pigkeepers. For ASF information, pigkeepers favour web searches and veterinarians, as well as traditional media and word-of-mouth news. This study provides valuable insights into refining the ASF communication strategies in Ukraine.

Passive Surveillance as a Key Tool for African Swine Fever Eradication in Wild Boar: A Protocol to Find Carcasses Tested and Validated in the Mediterranean Island of Sardinia.

African swine fever (ASF) is one of the most important and serious contagious hemorrhagic viral diseases affecting domestic pigs and wild boar and is associated with high mortality rates while also having an extensive sanitary and socioeconomic impact on the international trade of animal and swine products. The early detection of the disease is often hampered by inadequate surveillance. Among the surveillance strategies used, passive surveillance of wild boars is considered the most effective method for controlling the African swine fever virus (ASFV). Otherwise, the design of a sufficiently sensitive ASF surveillance system requires a solid understanding of the epidemiology related to the local eco-social context, especially in the absence of virus detection. Even if the number of carcasses needed to demonstrate ASF eradication has been established, the scientific context lacks detail compared to protocols applied in the active search for wild boar carcasses. The aim of this study was to describe the protocol applied in the active search for carcasses, providing detailed information on the number of people and dogs as well as the amount of time and space used within the Mediterranean area. Using a specific tool developed to record, trace, and share field data (the GAIA observer app), a total of 33 active searches for wild boar carcasses were organized during 2021-2023. Most of these searches were planned to find carcasses that had previously been reported by hunters. A total of 24 carcasses were found, with only 2 carcasses not previously reported. The final protocol applied involved four people, with an average speed of 1.5 km/h. When a carcass had been previously reported, about 2 km of distance had to be covered in about 1.5 h to find the carcass, and even less time was spent when a dog (untrained) was present. In conclusion, it can be stated that, when searching for carcasses, solid collaboration with local hunters or other forest visitors is necessary to ensure carcasses are reported. The process involves small groups of experts actively searching for carcasses, possibly with the use of hunting dogs without special training. The data presented could be of valid support for those countries characterized by Mediterranean vegetation that are faced with the need to plan active carcass searches.

The Effect of Partial and Temporary Vaccination on African Swine Fever Eradication Rates

African swine fever (ASF) is one of the most severe diseases of pigs, with drastic impact on pig industry. Wild boar populations play the role of ASF virus epidemiological reservoir. No effective and safe ASF vaccine is available, yet, but a future vaccine will not be 100% effective and will provide protection for no more than a few months. We present an individual-based spatially explicit model of wild boar demography and ASF epidemiology, allowing to simulate a vaccination campaign. We tested how many animals should be vaccinated in relation to vaccine efficacy and to the duration of vaccine protection. We estimated how these parameters will affect ASF eradication probabilities. We also assessed how partial vaccination will interact with a series of ecological, epidemiological, and management-related factors linked to ASF persistence. In the case of a highly effective vaccine with short duration, eradication chances were generally low, and the virus disappeared only when simulating a high effort (2.5 vaccinated wild boars/km2). A vaccine with low efficacy and long duration was even less effective in eradicating the ASFV, as none of the simulated scenarios provided acceptable eradication rates. Our results indicate that, under realistic conditions, vaccination against the ASF genotype II virus cannot be seen as an effective stand-alone tool for eradication. Its use should be integrated into a more comprehensive strategy, making use of all the available management tools, such as density control through hunting and carcass removal. If the vaccine will exhibit 12 months or longer duration of its protection, splitting the vaccination effort into two or three bait distribution campaigns during the year will be a feasible option. If the vaccine will exhibit a duration of its immunization significantly shorter than 1 year, a single distribution at the end of winter will maximize the probability of eradication.

Vaccines for African swine fever: an update.

African swine fever (ASF) is a fatal infectious disease of swine caused by the African swine fever virus (ASFV). Currently, the disease is listed as a legally notifiable disease that must be reported to the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH). The economic losses to the global pig industry have been insurmountable since the outbreak of ASF. Control and eradication of ASF are very critical during the current pandemic. Vaccination is the optimal strategy to prevent and control the ASF epidemic, but since inactivated ASFV vaccines have poor immune protection and there aren't enough cell lines for efficient in vitro ASFV replication, an ASF vaccine with high immunoprotective potential still remains to be explored. Knowledge of the course of disease evolution, the way of virus transmission, and the breakthrough point of vaccine design will facilitate the development of an ASF vaccine. In this review, the paper aims to highlight the recent advances and breakthroughs in the epidemic and transmission of ASF, virus mutation, and the development of vaccines in recent years, focusing on future directions and trends.

ВЛИЯНИЕ ВЫГУЛЬНОГО СОДЕРЖАНИЯ СВИНЕЙ НА РАСПРОСТРАНЕНИЕ АЧС

African Swine Fever (ASF) is one of the most challenging swine diseases that has a significant impact on global pig farming from both sanitary and economic perspectives. The virus causes mortality rates of up to 95‒100% when it enters a population of domestic pigs, and the absence of treatment and vaccines makes controlling and eradication of ASF a challenging task. Therefore, rapid outbreak detection and strict sanitary measures are crucial tools in combating the disease. Free-range pig farming systems can increase the risk of ASF spreading as pigs have more access to the environment and other animals. This can lead to the disease rapidly spreading, especially if infected wild boars come into contact with domestic pigs. To prevent the spread of ASF, it is necessary to implement comprehensive measures, including increasing the level of biosecurity on pig farms and strict compliance with the rules for animal transportation.

An analysis of African Swine Fever consequences on rural economies and smallholder swine producers in Haiti

African Swine Fever (ASF) causes high mortality and often results in strict culling policies for affected pigs and international market restrictions. It took more than 25 years for swine inventories in Haiti and the Dominican Republic to recover from an ASF outbreak that took place from 1978 to 1984. The 2021 outbreaks in the Dominican Republic and Haiti pose threats to animal health, livestock markets, and producer livelihoods. A partial equilibrium Haitian pig sector model (HPM-2021) was developed to assess the economic impacts of a 2021 Haitian ASF outbreak of a similar size to the 1980s outbreak. The dynamic model examines ASF impacts from 2021 to 2024, through 100 iterations of stochastic supply shocks, and three specific demand shocks. Recovery alternatives are assessed through 2030, and outbreaks and recovery outcomes are compared to a baseline reflecting 2019 trends. The analysis includes economic effects on national pork and maize in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, the rest of the Caribbean, and the rest of the world. Findings demonstrate higher vulnerabilities of the traditional sector to ASF-related disruptions. The inflated prices generated by pork production shortfalls are an opportunity to accelerate income growth for remaining traditional pig producers. When there is no consumer avoidance, the production losses caused by ASF generate high prices and contribute to a minimum of 49% increase in traditional sector revenue, and a minimum of 2.22% revenue growth in the commercial sector from the 2019 base year. Nevertheless, the potential for consumer avoidance of pork cause prices to decrease and offset those gains by as much as 90% in the traditional sector and 44% in the commercial sector. Smaller commercial sector impacts derive from different elasticities. ASF-induced high prices also lead to increased consumer expenditure losses by up to 200% over the outbreak period. Nevertheless, consumer expenditures tend to recover instantaneously with ASF eradication. Due to persisting demand shocks, producers will earn up to 0.3% lower than baseline levels income from 2027 to 2030. Few models evaluate the economic impacts of health response policies in less developed countries like Haiti. HPM-2021 results highlight ASF impacts on prices, which can benefit certain producers and disincentivize on-farm disease reporting. Slow recovery and consumer avoidance of pork are detrimental to long-term swine industry survival, producer livelihoods, and the overall rural economy.

Pigkeepers’ knowledge and perceptions regarding African swine fever and the control measures in Estonia

African swine fever (ASF) has been present in Estonia since 2014, and pigkeepers play a major role in controlling the spread of viral infection in domestic pigs. Participatory epidemiology may provide insight into livestock keepers’ existing attitudes and compliance with implementing control strategies. By conducting focus group discussions and using participatory epidemiology tools, this study aimed to reveal pigkeepers’ knowledge and awareness of ASF clinical signs, transmission routes, and preventive measures. Furthermore, opinions including trust in stakeholders in ASF control, acceptability of ASF eradication, and control measures by pigkeepers in Estonia were identified. The most indicative ASF signs in pigs were “increased mortality” and “fever, inappetence, lethargy”. The highest risk of virus introduction into the herd was designated to “agricultural machinery, vehicles”, “rodents, birds, insects”, and “people”. “Fencing” was the most liked ASF preventive measure, while “training of staff in biosecurity and informing the visitors” was considered the most effective measure. The least accepted ASF eradication measure was “culling of all animals on the farm”. Generally, pigkeepers perceived that healthy animals should not be culled but only ASF-infected pigs. Additionally, healthy pigs could be slaughtered and used for the production of heat-treated canned meat. “Destroying the feed” of ASF-infected farms was not favoured because some pigkeepers proposed using it for other animal species. Regarding ASF territorial restrictions (zoning), “lower meat prices” and “economic losses” were regarded as consequences with the greatest impact. Pigkeepers ranked trust in “Veterinary Authority and Ministry of Rural Affairs” regarding their role in ASF prevention and control as high while perceiving themselves as the most trustworthy stakeholder within the ASF network. This study demonstrates a generally good level of awareness among the pigkeepers in Estonia concerning the clinical manifestation of ASF, the most relevant transmission routes of the virus for their farms, and preventive measures for ASF. Pigkeepers are aware of their own role in preventing ASF, and there is a high level of trust between them and government authorities. Additional efforts are needed from authorities to communicate better the purpose of some ASF control and eradication measures to the pigkeepers. Further incentives are required to support the implementation of costly biosecurity measures, assure compliance, and mitigate the consequences of these measures.

Changes in Estimating the Wild Boar Carcasses Sampling Effort: Applying the EFSA ASF Exit Strategy by Means of the WBC-Counter Tool

African swine fever (ASF) is a devastating disease, resulting in the high mortality of domestic and wild pigs, spreading quickly around the world. Ensuring the prevention and early detection of the disease is even more crucial given the absence of licensed vaccines. As suggested by the European Commission, those countries which intend to provide evidence of freedom need to speed up passive surveillance of their wild boar populations. If this kind of surveillance is well-regulated in domestic pig farms, the country-specific activities to be put in place for wild populations need to be set based on wild boar density, hunting bags, the environment, and financial resources. Following the indications of the official EFSA opinion 2021, a practical interpretation of the strategy was implemented based on the failure probabilities of wrongly declaring the freedom of an area even if the disease is still present but undetected. This work aimed at providing a valid, applicative example of an exit strategy based on two different approaches: the first uses the wild boar density to estimate the number of carcasses need to complete the exit strategy, while the second estimates it from the number of wild boar hunted and tested. A practical free access tool, named WBC-Counter, was developed to automatically calculate the number of needed carcasses. The practical example was developed using the ASF data from Sardinia (Italian island). Sardinia is ASF endemic from 43 years, but the last ASFV detection dates back to 2019. The island is under consideration for ASF eradication declaration. The subsequent results provide a practical example for other countries in approaching the EFSA exit strategy in the best choices for its on-field application.

Combining hunting and intensive carcass removal to eradicate African swine fever from wild boar populations

African Swine Fever (ASF) is a highly lethal viral disease, which affects different species of wild and domestic suids. After its human-caused introduction in Georgia in 2007, the ASF virus has found a new ecological reservoir in the large and continuous wild boar (Sus scrofa) populations of Eurasia, spreading both eastward and westward. ASF has also breached into the intensive pork meat production system. Although the disease has no zoonotic potential, its consequences on wild boar populations and the economic losses for the pig industry have been dramatic. As no vaccine or effective medical treatment is available to reliably protect wild boar or domestic pigs against ASF, eradication efforts are mainly based on intensive wild boar hunting and on removing a significant portion of the infected wild boar carcasses, which are the main environmental virus reservoir. Both strategies have produced poor results, so far, and ASF is becoming endemic. We compared wild boar hunting and carcass removal as alternative and combined strategies for the eradication of ASF in its endemic state, using a spatially explicit individual-based model, which incorporated the demography and spatial dynamics of a wild boar population, the spatial epidemiology of ASF in its endemic phase, and a management system acting for the eradication of the disease from the population. When no eradication effort was simulated, ASF exhibited a clear and strong tendency to persist and remain endemic in the wild boar population. Both hunting and carcass removal, when used alone, provided either a low power to remove the virus from the population, or required unrealistic field effort. The best performing scenario corresponded to the combined use of a 30% annual hunting rate and of an intensive carcass removal, during a 2-month period in late winter (February-March). Eradicating ASF from wild boar populations remains a hard task. Managers should promote a drastic increase in the effort dedicated to systematically identify and remove as many infected wild boar carcasses as possible from the affected areas, with at least 5–15 carcasses removed for each 100 hunted wild boar.

Passive surveillance of African Swine Fever (ASF) in wild boars as an effective tool for prevention, control and eradication of ASF: A new approach

The latest recommendations of the European Commission and the scientific opinions of the EFSA and other bodies define the passive surveillance of ASF in wild boars as a key means of epidemiological surveillance and a basic tool for the eradication of the ASF virus from the natural environment in the areas where this disease occurs, especially in the early stage of its development. The key to eradication is the management of the wild boar population and its reduction to a low and controlled number, so as to diminish the virus pressure in the environment and lessen the risk to pig farms. Wild boar hunting should take place in a planned manner that is adapted to the epizootic situation (as part of centrally managed hunting and sanitary culling). The most intensive hunting should take place in ASF-free areas, with the use of tailored methods and the latest technologies. Periodic hunting moratoria and restrictions on any activity in newly infected zones are necessary. This approach provides for phased eradication of the infectious agent by culling or capturing wild boars, as well as identifying and safely removing their carcasses and remains. When passive ASF surveillance in wild fauna is undertaken, data on the incidence of the disease in wild boars are obtained by the Veterinary Inspectorate without its active participation. The inspectorate is notified of any suspicion or occurrence of the disease, including discoveries of carcasses of animals of susceptible species. Then it acts according to an established plan including clinical examination of suspected or sick animals, anatomopathological examinations and sample collection for laboratory tests. The article describes the use of passive ASF surveillance in wild boars as a tool to prevent, control and combat ASF in Poland.

Development of Real-Time PCR Based on A137R Gene for the Detection of African Swine Fever Virus

African swine fever virus (ASFV) can infect domestic pigs and wild boars and causes huge economic losses in global swine industry. Therefore, early diagnosis of ASFV is important for the control and eradication of African swine fever (ASF). In this study, a SYBR Green-based real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay targeting the viral encoded A137R gene was established for the detection of ASFV infection. For the evaluation of the established real-time PCR, 34 clinical samples were assessed by both the A137R gene-based real-time PCR and OIE-recommended TaqMan PCR. The results showed that 85.29% (29/34) were detected by A137R gene-based real-time PCR, but only 79.41% (27/34) positive using OIE-recommended TaqMan PCR. Moreover, no cross-reaction with other common swine pathogens was found in the A137R gene-based real-time PCR. These results demonstrated that the established real-time PCR assay in this study showed better performance than the OIE-recommended method in detecting ASFV from clinical samples, which could be applied for control and eradication programs of ASF.

African Swine Fever in Wild Boar (Poland 2020): Passive and Active Surveillance Analysis and Further Perspectives.

African swine fever (ASF) is a fatal hemorrhagic disease of wild boar and domestic pigs which has been present in Poland since 2014. By 2020, the ASF virus (ASFV) spread across Central, Eastern and Western Europe (including Germany), and Asian countries (including China, Vietnam, and South Korea). The national ASF eradication and prevention program includes continuous passive (wild boar found dead and road-killed wild boar) and active (hunted wild boar) surveillance. The main goal of this study was to analyze the dynamic of the spread of ASF in the wild boar population across the territory of Poland in 2020. In that year in Poland, in total 6191 ASF-positive wild boar were declared. Most of them were confirmed in a group of animals found dead. The conducted statistical analysis indicates that the highest chance of obtaining an ASF-positive result in wild boar was during the winter months, from January to March, and in December 2020. Despite the biosecurity measures implemented by holdings of domestic pigs, the disease also occurred in 109 pig farms. The role of ASF surveillance in the wild boar population is crucial to apply more effective and tailored measures of disease control and eradication. The most essential measures to maintain sustainable production of domestic pigs in Poland include effective management of the wild boar population, along with strict implementation of biosecurity measures by domestic pig producers.

African Swine Fever in the Russian Far East (2019-2020): Spatio-Temporal Analysis and Implications for Wild Ungulates.

African swine fever (ASF) is an emerging viral contagious disease affecting domestic pigs (DP) and wild boar (WB). ASF causes significant economic damage to the pig industry worldwide due to nearly 100% mortality and the absence of medical treatments. Since 2019, an intensive spread of ASF has been observed in the Russian Far East region. This spread raises concerns for epidemiologists and ecologists given the potential threat to the WB population, which is an essential member of the region's wild ungulates and provides a notable share of food resources for predatory species. This study aims to determine the genotype of ASF virus circulating in the region, reveal the spatio-temporal patterns of the ASF outbreaks' emergence, and assess the potential reduction of the regional fauna because of expected depopulation of WB. The first historical case of ASF in the study region was caused by an African swine fever virus (ASFV) isolated from DPs and belonging to Genotype 2, CVR1; IGR-2 (TRS +). Sequencing results showed no significant differences among ASFV strains currently circulating in the Russian Federation, Europe, and China. The spatiotemporal analysis with the space-time permutations model demonstrated the presence of six statistically significant clusters of ASF outbreaks with three clusters in DPs and one cluster in WBs. DP outbreaks prevail in the north-west regions of the study area, while northern regions demonstrate a mixture of DP and WB outbreaks. Colocation analysis did not reveal a statistically significant pattern of grouping of one category of outbreaks around the others. The possible damage to the region's fauna was assessed by modeling the total body mass of wild ungulates before and after the wild boars' depopulation, considering a threshold density of WB population of 0.025 head/km2, according to the currently in force National Plan on the ASF Eradication in Russia. The results suggest the total mass of ungulates of the entire study region will likely decrease by 8.4% (95% CI: 4.1–13.0%), while it may decrease by 33.6% (19.3–46.1%) in the Primorsky Krai, thereby posing an undeniable threat to the predatory species of the region.

Emergence of African Swine Fever in Poland (2014–2021). Successes and Failures in Disease Eradication

African swine fever (ASF) in Poland has been a major concern for pig production for the last seven years. The main constrains in ASF eradication in Poland are due to the high density of wild boar in ASF-affected areas of the country. Other factors, responsible for long-distance ASF spread to new regions of the country, are mainly related to human-mediated activity and lack of awareness of the potential disease threat to pig production. In the case of pig holdings, the only effective measure of ASF prevention is strict implementation of biosecurity rules. Despite many efforts to implement these measures, the disease occurred in a number of voivodeships, poviats and counties of Poland, primarily in eastern Poland; however, starting from 2019, also in the western part of the country. Further recommendations to eradicate ASF in Poland or at least to minimize the economic loss caused by ASF in pig production include effective wild boar population management strategies along with the implementation of strict biosecurity measures. The observations from the last seven years of ASF epizootic in Poland clearly indicate that the disease could not have been effectively controlled in wild boar population and could only be restricted in domestic pig population following severe biosecurity rules. As for ASF spread control in wild boar population, the measures applied in other EU countries include active wild boar carcass search and disposal along with sanitary and reduction hunting. These measures have also been shown non-effective. The only solution for future sustainable pig production in Poland seems to be strict collaboration between pig producers, veterinary inspection, and hunting associations.

Molecular characterization of African Swine fever viruses in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Senegal 1989-2016: Genetic diversity of ASFV in West Africa.

African swine fever (ASF) has been endemic in sub-Saharan Africa since the 1960s. Following its introduction in Senegal, in 1957, ASF steadily progressed through West Africa, reaching Burkina Faso in 2003, and later Mali in 2016. Despite the heavy burden of disease on pig production, little information is available on the genetic diversity of Africa swine fever virus (ASFV) in Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal. Here, we used real-time PCR ASFV to detect the ASFV genome in samples collected between 1989 and 2016, in Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal, and conventional approaches for isolate characterization. The C-terminal end of the p72 protein gene, the full E183L gene and the central variable region (CVR) within the B602L gene in ASFV genome were sequenced and compared to publicly available sequences. ASFV genome was found in 27 samples, 19 from Burkina Faso, three from Mali and five from Senegal. The phylogenetic analyses showed that all viruses belong to genotype I, with the ASFVs from Burkina Faso and Mali grouping with genotype Ia and ASFV serogroup 4, and those from Senegal with genotype Ib and the ASFV serogroup 1. The analysis of the CVR tetrameric tandem repeat sequences (TRS) showed four TRS variants in Burkina Faso, two in Senegal and one in Mali. The three countries did not share any common TRS, and all CVRs of this study differed from previously reported CVRs in West Africa, except for Senegal. Three of the five isolates from Senegal fully matched with the CVR, p72 and p54 sequences from ASFV IC96 collected during the 1996 ASF outbreak in Ivory Coast. This study shows the spread of the same ASFV strains across countries, highlighting the importance of continuous monitoring of ASFV isolates. It also calls for an urgent need to establish a regional plan for the control and eradication of ASF in West Africa.

Surveillance of ASF-infected pig farms from September to October 2019 in South Korea.

Fourteen African swine fever (ASF) outbreaks occurred in the pig farms in the northwestern region of South Korea, near the border with North Korea, from September 16, 2019 to October 9, 2019. Active and passive surveillance on the ASF-infected farms indicated that the infection was limited only to pigsties where the infected pigs were detected on the farm for the first time before further transmission to other pigsties and farms. This early detection could be one of the pivotal factors for the prompt eradication of ASF in domestic pig farms within 1 month in the northwestern region of South Korea.

Current State of Global African Swine Fever Vaccine Development under the Prevalence and Transmission of ASF in China

African swine fever (ASF) is a highly lethal contagious disease of swine caused by African swine fever virus (ASFV). At present, it is listed as a notifiable disease reported to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and a class one animal disease ruled by Chinese government. ASF has brought significant economic losses to the pig industry since its outbreak in China in August 2018. In this review, we recapitulated the epidemic situation of ASF in China as of July 2020 and analyzed the influencing factors during its transmission. Since the situation facing the prevention, control, and eradication of ASF in China is not optimistic, safe and effective vaccines are urgently needed. In light of the continuous development of ASF vaccines in the world, the current scenarios and evolving trends of ASF vaccines are emphatically analyzed in the latter part of the review. The latest research outcomes showed that attempts on ASF gene-deleted vaccines and virus-vectored vaccines have proven to provide complete homologous protection with promising efficacy. Moreover, gaps and future research directions of ASF vaccine are also discussed.

Investigation into eradication of African swine fever in domestic pigs from a previous outbreak (2016/17) area of South Africa

A serological survey was conducted to evaluate the eradication of African swine fever (ASF) infection eighteen months after clinical surveillance and selective culling had been completed during domestic cycle outbreaks in parts of South Africa in 2016/17. Three hundred and twenty-two serum samples from 85 pig keepers were collected in the study area and tested for the presence of antibodies against the ASF virus (ASFV). None of the samples contained detectable levels of antibodies against ASFV. These results together with the findings from clinical surveillance following culling activities suggest that the disease had been eradicated from the domestic pig population in this area following the outbreaks. Questionnaire responses from the pig keepers in this area highlighted the need to implement basic biosecurity measures in smallholder pig keepers to prevent outbreaks of ASF in South Africa.

Confirmed cannibalism in wild boar and its possible role in African swine fever transmission.

For the monitoring of wild boar interactions with conspecific carcasses, seven wild boar carcasses were placed in different sites in the Czech Republic during winter season. Data were collected by camera traps. In total, 732 visits were recorded of wild boars at the carcass sites. Direct contact with the carcass was detected in 81% of the records. Cannibalism was observed in 9.8% of all recorded visits. The first direct contact was observed on average 30days after the carcass had been placed in its respective site. Cannibalism was observed on average after 70days. The effect of sex-age class on direct contact was not proven in our study. The presented findings show that cannibalism in wild boar can play a substantial role in the ASF epidemic. These results highlighted the importance of the removal of infected carcasses from the habitat, which is crucial for African swine fever eradication.

Evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of ASF detection with or without the use of on-field tests in different scenarios, in Sardinia.

African swine fever (ASF) is a highly contagious disease of domestic pigs and wild boars (WBs). Without a vaccine, early antibody and antigen detection and rapid diagnosis are crucial for the effective prevention of the disease and the employment of control measures. In Sardinia, where 3 different suid populations coexisted closely for a long time, the disease persists since 1978. The recent ASF eradication plan involves more stringent measures to combat free-ranging pigs and any kind of illegality in the pig industry. However, critical issues such as the low level of hunter cooperation with veterinary services and the time required for ASF detection in the WBs killed during the hunting season still remain. Considering the need to deliver true ASF negative carcasses as early as possible, this study focuses on the evaluation and validation of a duplex pen-side test that simultaneously detects antibodies and antigens specific to ASF virus, to improve molecular diagnosis under field conditions. The main goal was to establish the specificity of the two pen-side tests performed simultaneously and to determine their ability to detect the true ASF negative carcasses among the hunted WBs. Blood and organ samples of the WBs hunted during the 2018/2019 hunting seasons were obtained. A total of 160 animals were tested using the pen-side kit test; samples were collected for virological and serological analyses. A specificity of 98% was observed considering the official laboratory tests as gold standards. The new diagnostic techniques could facilitate faster and cost-effective control of the disease.