Veterinary Preventive Medicine-II

SYNONYMS AND INTRODUCTION

Synonyms : African pig disease, Wart hog disease

Introduction

• African swine fever (ASF) highly contagious, mostly acute, febrile disease of domestic swine with cyanosis of the skin, hemorrhages of the lymph nodes, kidney, and gastrointestinal mucosa.
• African swine fever virus (ASFV) belonging to Iridovirus group.
• The ASFV is immunologically different from swine fever virus.
• The pigs immunized against swine fever are susceptible to ASF.
• Domestic pigs, Wart hogs, forest hogs and bush pigs are reservoirs.
• The virus can be cultivated in developing chicken embryo and tissue culture.
• Domestic pigs get the infection when they have close contact with the wild pigs.
• Virus is transmitted via aerosol.
• The virus is abundantly present in all the secretions and excretions of the affected pigs.
• The virus is also transmitted through ticks and lice.
• Mortality is usually 100% in infected pigs. Recovered pigs are the carriers of disease.