Genomic Analysis of Highly Virulent Isolate of African Swine Fever Virus

OI: 10.3201/eid1704.101283
Suggested citation for this article: Chapman DAG, Darby AC, Da Silva M, Upton C, Radford AD, Dixon LK. Genomic analysis of highly virulent isolate of African swine fever virus. Emerg Infect Dis. 2011 Apr; [Epub ahead of print]


Genomic Analysis of Highly Virulent Isolate of African Swine Fever Virus
David A.G. Chapman, Alistair C. Darby, Melissa Da Silva, Chris Upton, Alan D. Radford, and Linda K. Dixon


Author affiliations: Institute for Animal Health, Woking, UK (D.A.G. Chapman, L.K. Dixon); University of Liverpool, Neston, UK (A.C. Darby, A. Radford); and University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada (M. Da Silva, C. Upton)

African swine fever (ASF) is widespread in Africa but has occasionally been introduced into other continents. In June 2007, ASF was isolated in the Caucasus Region of the Republic of Georgia and subsequently in neighboring countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, and 9 states of the Russian Federation).

Previous data for sequencing of 3 genes indicated that the Georgia 2007/1 isolate is closely related to isolates of genotype II, which has been identified in Mozambique, Madagascar, and Zambia. We report the complete genomic coding sequence of the Georgia 2007/1 isolate and comparison with other isolates.

A genome sequence of 189,344 bp encoding 166 open reading frames (ORFs) was obtained. Phylogeny based on concatenated sequences of 125 conserved ORFs showed that this isolate clustered most closely with the Mkuzi 1979 isolate. Some ORFs clustered differently, suggesting that recombination may have occurred. Results provide a baseline for monitoring genomic changes in this virus.

African swine fever (ASF) is a hemorrhagic fever in domestic pigs that causes serious economic losses and high mortality rates. ASF is currently endemic to many countries in sub-Saharan Africa and the island of Sardinia in Europe and was endemic to Spain and Portugal from 1960 until the mid 1990s. It is still endemic to Madagascar since its introduction in 1998.

Sporadic ASF outbreaks have occurred in Brazil, the Caribbean region, the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, and countries in Europe (1). There is no vaccine against ASF, and disease control relies on rapid diagnosis and implementation of quarantine and slaughter policies. African swine...

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