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The Epidemiology, Control, and Global Impact of African Swine Fever...
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The Epidemiology, Control, and Global Impact of African Swine Fever and Other Transboundary Swine Diseases

A special issue of Pathogens (ISSN 2076-0817). This special issue belongs to the section "Viral Pathogens".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2026 | Viewed by 1458

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Mary-Louise Penrith

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Guest Editor
Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Interests: African swine fever; epidemiology; management; resource-constrained pig farming
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Juanita Van Emmenes

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Agricultural Research Council, Transboundary Animal Disease, Pretoria, South Africa
2. Department of Production Animal Studies, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Interests: African swine fever; epidemiology; DNA; sequencing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Pam Dachung Luka

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Biotechnology Division, National Veterinary Research Institute, Jos, Nigeria
Interests: African swine fever virology; diagnostics; biotechnology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

African swine fever (ASF), the most concerning transboundary swine disease, has had widespread prevalence from the Caribbean to the Asia–Pacific region since its initial introduction in Europe in 2007 and China in 2018. Posing a serious threat to pig production at all levels worldwide, justifiably, it is the swine disease that receives the most attention from researchers. Understanding its epidemiology in different contexts and designing control measures that can feasibly be applied at a small, resource-limited scale, traditional and subsistence pig-keeping remain challenging; it is also necessary to assess its impact on trade, livelihoods and food security. Relevant vaccines are gradually becoming available, but strategies for optimizing their use, even among traditional free-roaming pigs and susceptible wild pigs, are sorely needed.

ASF is the main focus of this Special Issue; however, contributions related to classical swine fever, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome and coronaviral diseases of swine such as porcine epidemic diarrhea and transmissible gastroenteritis, as well as other emerging diseases, will also be considered.

Prof. Dr. Mary-Louise Penrith
Dr. Juanita Van Emmenes
Dr. Pam Dachung Luka
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • African swine fever
  • classical swine fever
  • PRRS
  • porcine coronaviruses
  • management

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 3848 KiB  
Article
Cloning and Expression of a Truncated Form of the p72 Protein of the African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV) for Application in an Efficient Indirect ELISA System
by Julieta Sandra Cuevas-Romero, Perla Lucero Zavala-Ocampo, Sonia Pina-Pedrero, Llilianne Ganges, Adriana Muñoz-Aguilera, José Bryan García-Cambrón, Fernando Rodriguez, Aruna Ambagala and José Luis Cerriteño-Sánchez
Pathogens 2025, 14(6), 542; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens14060542 - 29 May 2025
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Abstract
African swine fever (ASF) is a disease that affects both domestic and wild swine. It was recently reported in the Dominican Republic and Haiti (2021), representing a substantial risk to America. The goal of this study was to produce a truncated form of [...] Read more.
African swine fever (ASF) is a disease that affects both domestic and wild swine. It was recently reported in the Dominican Republic and Haiti (2021), representing a substantial risk to America. The goal of this study was to produce a truncated form of the ASF-p72 recombinant protein based on the ASF strain genotype II (Georgia 2017) as well as to develop and validate a sensitive and specific ASF indirect-ELISA (iELISA) for early detection of ASF. The truncated ASF-p72 recombinant protein was successfully expressed in E. coli BL21/DE3 cells using the pET-SUMO plasmid. Bioinformatics analysis showed 100% homology among the new isolates of ASFV from genotype II. The ASF-p72-truncated protein was used to develop an iELISA, which had a high sensitivity (88%) and strong specificity (97%); the concordance index kappa was K = 0.872, indicating nearly perfect agreement compared to the WOAH confirmatory immunoperoxidase test. The validation results utilizing the reference sera panel from the OIE-ASF Reference Laboratory show the excellent detection capabilities of ASF antibodies up to a 1:1000 serum dilution. The inter-assay coefficient of variation (CV 10.4%) and intra-assay CV (2.8%) data show that the assay is precise and reproducible. This biotechnology advancement can be used to conduct future epidemiological research for ASF surveillance in ASF-free American countries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Epidemiology, Control, and Global Impact of African Swine Fever and Other Transboundary Swine Diseases)
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16 pages, 3913 KiB  
Article
Biosecurity Versus African Swine Fever—Making, Acceptance, and Results of a German Online Assessment Tool
by Nicolai Denzin, Nora Wieneke, Maria Gellermann, Carola Sauter-Louis and Barbara Grabkowsky
Pathogens 2025, 14(6), 524; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens14060524 - 23 May 2025
Viewed by 345
Abstract
African swine fever (ASF), a viral hemorrhagic disease with exceptionally high lethality in domestic pigs and Eurasian wild boar, reached Germany in 2020, with the confirmation of the first case in a wild boar next to the border to Poland. Since then, 6621 [...] Read more.
African swine fever (ASF), a viral hemorrhagic disease with exceptionally high lethality in domestic pigs and Eurasian wild boar, reached Germany in 2020, with the confirmation of the first case in a wild boar next to the border to Poland. Since then, 6621 cases in wild boar but only 19 outbreaks in domestic pigs were confirmed. Biosecurity is crucial in preventing the infection of domestic pig holdings. Already in 2019, an online assessment tool, the so-called “ASP-Risikoampel” (ASF risk traffic light), was launched. It enables farms to identify ASF-specific weaknesses and take targeted measures to minimize risks/optimize the biosecurity standard anonymously and free of charge. The development of the tool incorporating expert opinion elicitation in a Delphi process is detailed and the results of 2290 self-assessments of farms between 2019 and 2023 are evaluated. The proportion of tool utilization relative to the average number of holdings in Germany in this time span was 11.9% with marked differences between the federal states. Most of the farms achieved biosecurity scores above 66.7%, qualifying for a “green traffic light”. The results were significantly different among the federal states. The best performing states were those with the largest mean farm size. The latter was significantly correlated with performance on the farm level. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Epidemiology, Control, and Global Impact of African Swine Fever and Other Transboundary Swine Diseases)
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15 pages, 10062 KiB  
Article
A Practical Framework for ASFV Disinfectant Evaluation: Differentiating Cytopathic Effects from Cytotoxicity via Integrated Analytical Methods
by Sok Song, Kyu-Sik Shin, Su-Jeong Kim, Yong Yi Joo, Bokhee Han, So-Hee Park, Hyun-Ok Ku, Wooseog Jeong and Choi-Kyu Park
Pathogens 2025, 14(5), 451; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens14050451 - 4 May 2025
Viewed by 526
Abstract
African swine fever virus (ASFV) is a highly virulent DNA virus that has spread globally since its introduction into Georgia in 2007, causing substantial economic losses in the swine industry. In the absence of an effective vaccine, chemical disinfection remains a key strategy [...] Read more.
African swine fever virus (ASFV) is a highly virulent DNA virus that has spread globally since its introduction into Georgia in 2007, causing substantial economic losses in the swine industry. In the absence of an effective vaccine, chemical disinfection remains a key strategy for disease control. However, in cell-based disinfectant efficacy testing, distinguishing between disinfectant-induced cytotoxicity and virus-induced cytopathic effects (CPEs) remains a major challenge, leading to the potential misinterpretation of results. To address this, we developed a multi-step analytical framework to differentiate CPEs from cytotoxicity using a Vero cell-adapted ASFV strain. Virkon® S was tested at three dilutions—375×, 275× (manufacturer-recommended), and 175×—and evaluated through CPE observation, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assays, and antigen detection via lateral flow immunoassay (p30) and immunofluorescence (p54). Notably, the 375× dilution achieved effective viral inactivation with significantly lower cytotoxicity, demonstrating that this framework can facilitate a more refined determination of disinfectant working dilutions. Furthermore, increased p30 signals after disinfection and the observation of lower cytotoxicity in virus-plus-disinfectant groups compared to disinfectant-only groups highlight the complexity of virus-disinfectant interactions and the potential for misinterpretation. This study provides a standardized and interpretable strategy for assessing ASFV disinfectant efficacy and offers a practical basis for evaluating other enveloped viruses in future disinfection studies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Epidemiology, Control, and Global Impact of African Swine Fever and Other Transboundary Swine Diseases)
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