2. ASF has probably been around in Africa for millennia
It most probably caused outbreaks in pigs introduced to sub-
Saharan Africa by Portuguese missionaries and colonists about
500 years ago
The first outbreaks in domestic pigs were reported in East Africa
in the early 1900s
In South Africa, where contact between domestic pigs and
warthogs occurred, similar outbreaks were recorded from 1926
3. Thereafter the disease was also reported in Angola, northern
Mozambique (1954), most countries in central and southern Africa
and then spread to West Africa {Senegal (1978 OIE) and Guinea
Bissau – 1959?}
Since 1978 at least 26 African countries have reported outbreaks of
ASF and since 1996 devastating outbreaks have occurred in West
Africa
This increase in number of outbreaks is most probably due to
increased numbers of pigs
4. ASF appears to persist in at least 3 different
cycles:
◦ Sylvatic cycle involving soft ticks and wild suids
(savannah zones mostly in central, east and southern
Africa)
◦ Domestic pigs and soft ticks
◦ Domestic cycle involving only pigs
Direct contact between pigs
Indirect transmission (iatrogenic, hands, clothing etc)
Virus in pig tissues / meat products fed to pigs
5. Outbreaks in pigs where the
sylvatic cycle is not evident
could be due to low level
infection which then
occasionally causes high
mortalities
Pigs with innate resistance
probably play a key role in
maintaining and propagating
ASFV
Village pigs seem to be more
resistant and survive infection
as shown by serological
surveys where up to 40% of
pigs can be sero-positive after
an outbreak
Experimental infection
indicated that this apparent
resistance is not inherited
6. Epidemiology of ASF in Mozambique: an
endemic area
Main Objectives:
◦ To determine the prevalence of soft ticks in the area
◦ To verify the contact between wild and domestic pigs with soft
ticks
◦ To establish whether wild and domestic pigs and soft ticks are
infected with ASFV
◦ To determine the molecular epidemiology of the ASFV isolates
found in the area
7. ASFV-endemic region
High density of warthogs in the park
Communities surrounding the park are
heavily dependent on pig rearing as a
source of income
8. N2 N3 N4
N1 Trans-Stadial N5
transmission
Eggs
Adult
Persistent infection Ticks from warthog
burrows and pig pens
Sylvatic Cycle
Domestic Cycle
Blood and sera Blood and sera from
from warthogs domestic pigs
9. ASF sero-prevalence in warthogs
Blood and sera from warthogs
Samples collected from 12
warthogs
75% (9/12) of the warthog
sera tested positive for ASFV
antibodies
This suggest a high
prevalence of ASF in the
warthog population
10. Prevalence of soft ticks
Ticks from warthog burrows
and pig pens
2556 ticks (O. porcinus
porcinus) collected from 29
out of 32 warthog burrows
searched in GNP (90%
prevalence)
203 ticks (O. p. domesticus)
collected from 2 out of 63 pig
pens searched in buffer zone
outside GNP (3% prevalence)
12. Prevalence of ASFV in soft ticks
Internodal stages
♂ ♀ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 - + M
• There was no correlation
between the likelihood of a
positive result and any of the
internodal stages
PCR result obtained for the different internodal stages
of ticks collected from a single warthog burrow
14. Genotype II was most prevalent in tick
isolates obtained from the GNP
Newly identified genotype (XXIII) comprised
isolates from ticks both in the park and in
domestic sties
15. Sporadic episodes of high mortality in pigs
have been reported throughout the sample
period
10.32% (66/639) of the serum samples
tested positive for ASFV antibodies
Low prevalence may be due to high
mortality rates of infected pigs and most of
samples came from young survivors and re-
stocked animals
16. Prevalence of anti-ticks antibodies in domestic pigs
• 500 serum samples collected from domestic pigs were tested for
the presence of anti-tick antibodies
• 44% of the sample contained detectable levels of antibodies
• There is a statistically significant association between anti-tick
antibodies and ASFV antibodies. Mid-p < 0.03 (x2 test, 95% CI)
18. SA is zoned with a northern region where the sylvatic cycle
has been studied in some detail
All outbreaks since 1939 were in the ASF control zone where
this known sylvatic cycle is present and where free-ranging
pigs are kept
Expansion of wildlife farming and a focus on eco-tourism has
resulted in an increased number of wild animals and
warthogs are more abundant
19.
20. The Transfrontier Conservation Areas planned for
Africa could positively impact on warthog
numbers
Warthogs cannot be fenced in and their range
may increase
This could impact on the sylvatic cycle which
seems to give rise to more genetically variant
viruses
This in turn could impact on the development of
vaccines to control ASF
21. In Africa, ASF affects mostly the people who can least afford it and
threatens food security
The epidemiology of ASF on the African continent is complex
The epidemiology may be changing due to climatic conditions and
farming practices and should be monitored regularly
More studies are needed to fully understand the factors that would
impact on disease control strategies
Regional control policies are needed
Training pig keepers and rapid diagnosis could assist in alleviating
the negative impact of ASF virus outbreaks
22. Molecular epidemiology can be applied in ASFV risk analysis and
outbreak tracing, but should be based on multiple genes
The apparent segregation of genotypes based of their geographical
distribution may be due to under-sampling
Continued monitoring of both captive and wild suid populations as
well as soft tick distribution is essential to effectively addressing the
ASFV problem in sub-Saharan Africa
23. L.E. Heath , B.A. Lubisi, R.M. Dwarka, N. Msthali, C. Quembo, A. Bastos, C.
Boshoff
Staff of the Transboundary Animal Diseases Programme, ARC-OVI
Dr. Ferran Jori from CIRAD for assistance with sampling strategies and
sampling in Mozambique
Wellcome Trust for funding (Mozambique studies)
Esther Blanco - CISA-INIA, Valdeolmos, Spain