Spot Checks by Russian Vets to Clamp Down On African Swine Fever

http://www.themeatsite.com/meatnews/22526/spot-checks-by-russian-vets-to-clamp-down-on-african-swine-fever

African Swine Fever threat to UK

http://www.meatinfo.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/16118/African_Swine_Fever_threat_to_UK_.html

African Swine Fever (ASF) will hit the UK, a chief veterinary officer from Northern Ireland has predicted.

http://www.meatinfo.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/16118/African_Swine_Fever_threat_to_UK_.html

African Swine Fever (ASF) will hit the UK, a chief veterinary officer from Northern Ireland has predicted - See more at: http://www.meatinfo.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/16118/African_Swine_Fever_threat_to_UK_.html#sthash.JSXpTwDD.dpuf

African Swine Fever (ASF) will hit the UK, a chief veterinary officer from Northern Ireland has predicted - See more at: http://www.meatinfo.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/16118/African_Swine_Fever_threat_to_UK_.html#sthash.JSXpTwDD.dpuf

EU to contribute €2.5m to prevent the African Swine Fever

http://www.neurope.eu/article/eu-contribute-%E2%82%AC25m-prevent-african-swine-fever-0

Belarus adopts additional measures to contain ASF

http://news.belta.by/en/news/society?id=725858

A fence worth millions to be built on Latvian borders

http://www.arc2020.eu/front/tag/african-swine-fever/

European Commission rejects plan to build "swine fence"

http://www.latviannews.lv/news/2295/

Government adopts mysterious decree on African swine fever

http://euroradio.fm/en/government-adopts-mysterious-decree-african-swine-fever

"Ferreira’s study shows that there is a first period in which infected pigs secrete large amounts of ASFV, especially via saliva, but also via faeces. In this period the virus is transmitted efficiently to other pigs via direct contact. This first phase is followed by a long period (several months) in which the virus is excreted only occasionally, and therefore in that period other pigs may still become infected. "

http://www.wageningenur.nl/nl/show/PhD-Defence-Transmission-mechanisms-of-African-swine-fever-virus.htm

"Ferreira also demonstrated the presence of virus particles in the air of rooms housing infected pigs. Over short distances this may cause transmission of the virus to other pigs. Furthermore, Ferreira demonstrated that the virus can only survive for a few days in the environment, outside the animal. And finally, Ferreira’s study shows that the two most common species of hard ticks in Europe are unlikely vectors of ASFV, contrary to the soft ticks in Africa."

Border control to be increased due to African swine fever

http://bnn-news.com/border-control-increased-due-african-swine-fever-102550

EU vets agree on measures against African swine fever

http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/markets_and_companies/?doc=80067

Belarus suspends pork imports from Vladimir Oblast of Russia

http://news.belta.by/en/news/econom?id=725216

Ukraine bans import of swine, pork, sausages from Belarus

http://euroradio.by/en/ukraine-bans-import-swine-pork-sausages-belarus

Russia Acts against Illegal Meat and Feed Products

http://www.themeatsite.com/meatnews/22394/russia-acts-against-illegal-meat-and-feed-products

A new outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) has been detected in the Alexandrovsky district of Vladimir Region, Russia's Federal Veterinary and Phytosanitary Oversight Service (Rosselkhoznadzor) reported.

http://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=441230

Comprehensive Phylogenetic Reconstructions of African Swine Fever Virus: Proposal for a New Classification and Molecular Dating of the Virus

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0069662

ASFV in Wild Boars in Russia

http://www.slideshare.net/SParilov/asf-on-wild-boars-in-russia

"The Federal Veterinary and Phytosanitary Inspection Service announced Friday that it was temporarily restricting pork imports from Belarus. The restrictions were put in place due to a fear that the products might be contaminated with African swine fever virus, according to an official statement.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/pork-and-tolstoy-become-latest-players-in-moscow-minsk-potash-drama/485303.html

Advice to Russian Scientsts on African Swine Fever Virus

Test American pork for African Swine Fever Virus with the best ASFV technology in the world and you might be very surprised at what you find.

ASFV was expected to hit the USA in the late 70s.

Do we really know that it didn't?

Is PRRS what they say it is?

Keep researching and asking questions.

"Russia's veterinary regulator said the restrictions on hog and pork product imports had been imposed over concerns about African swine fever in Belarus and would not be lifted until the virus was wiped out or brought under control.

 http://www.porknetwork.com/pork-news/Russia-escalates-dispute-with-Belarus-after-CEOs-arrest-221833611.html#sthash.YmrtW2o3.dpuf

Will kitchen waste bring African Swine Fever to England?

http://www.npa-uk.org.uk/Pages/LionsDen.html

How soon will African Swine Fever break out in Poland?

It might already be there! Give how quickly and widely it has spread in adjoining countries, the odds are that it is already in ticks and wild boar in Poland.

Poland wants EU to fund fence along Belarusian border over African swine fever

 http://naviny.by/rubrics/english/2013/07/18/ic_articles_259_182385

 

 "On a relative risk scale with six categories from negligible to very high, five European Union countries were estimated at high (France, Germany, Italy and United Kingdom) or moderate (Spain) risk of African swine fever release, five countries were at high risk of exposure if African swine fever were released (France, Italy, Poland, Romania and Spain) and ten countries had a moderate exposure risk (Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Sweden and United Kingdom). The approach presented here and results obtained for African swine fever provide a basis for the enhancement of risk-based surveillance systems and disease prevention programmes in the European Union."

In Poland Chopin Airport joins African swine fever information campaign

"As recommended by the Chief Veterinary Officer, steps have been taken at Warsaw Chopin Airport to reduce the risk of African swine fever (ASF) spreading to Poland" 

http://www.lotnisko-chopina.pl/en/airport/about-the-airport/pressroom/news/2013/8/chopin-airport-joins-african-swine-fever-information-campaign

Background on African Swine Fever Virus as a human pathogen:

"African Swine fever is an endemic disease in sub-Saharan Africa and many other parts of the developing world. It is caused by the African Swine virus that primarily replicates in macrophages and monocytes leading to the impairment of the structure and function of the immune system of the infected organisms. Until now the African Swine epidemic continues to spread despite all efforts to contain it. Thus, there is an objective need for effective, safe and affordable preventive and therapeutic approaches, in particular for effective vaccines, to control and eventually eradicate this disease. Since the characteristic feature of the African Swine virus is to impair the immune system and to cause immune deficiencies in its hosts the development of vaccines and other therapeutic approaches against the African Swine virus has implications for other immune deficiencies or diseases. Several other viruses are also known to cause immunodeficiency-like syndromes in humans, including cytomegalovirus, Epstein Barr Virus and others. Moreover, a series of cases of so-called "idiopathic" immunodeficiencies have been documented that display CD4+T-lymphocytopenia with opportunistic infections, but show no evidence of HIV infection. Since antibodies for the African Swine virus have been detected in humans, the possibility of human infection with the African Swine virus exists and may thus far have escaped any systematic screening. Thus, any preventive and therapeutic approach to African Swine fever can have far-reaching implications to control immune deficiency conditions in humans."http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20080207875

Detection of Novel Sequences Related to African Swine Fever Virus in Human Serum and Sewage.

Loh J, Zhao G, Presti RM, Holtz LR, Finkbeiner SR, Droit L, Villasana Z, Todd C, Pipas JM, Calgua B, Girones R, Wang D, Virgin HW.

Departments of Pathology & Immunology and Molecular Microbiology, Department of Medicine and Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

"The family Asfarviridae contains only a single virus species, African swine fever virus (ASFV). ASFV is a viral agent with significant economic impact due to its devastating effects on populations of domesticated pigs during outbreaks, but has not been reported to infect humans. We report here the discovery of novel viral sequences in human serum and sewage which are clearly related to the Asfarvirus family, but highly divergent from ASFV. Detection of these sequences suggests that greater genetic diversity may exist among Asfarviruses than previously thought, and raises the possibility that human infection by Asfarviruses may occur."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19812170?dopt=Abstract

African Swine Fever Virus (Asfarviridae) sequences found in people with febrile illnesses

Abstract

Virus Identification in Unknown Tropical Febrile Illness Cases Using Deep Sequencing

Dengue virus is an emerging infectious agent that infects an estimated 50–100 million people annually worldwide, yet current diagnostic practices cannot detect an etiologic pathogen in ∼40% of dengue-like illnesses. Metagenomic approaches to pathogen detection, such as viral microarrays and deep sequencing, are promising tools to address emerging and non-diagnosable disease challenges. In this study, we used the Virochip microarray and deep sequencing to characterize the spectrum of viruses present in human sera from 123 Nicaraguan patients presenting with dengue-like symptoms but testing negative for dengue virus. We utilized a barcoding strategy to simultaneously deep sequence multiple serum specimens, generating on average over 1 million reads per sample. We then implemented a stepwise bioinformatic filtering pipeline to remove the majority of human and low-quality sequences to improve the speed and accuracy of subsequent unbiased database searches. By deep sequencing, we were able to detect virus sequence in 37% (45/123) of previously negative cases. These included 13 cases with Human Herpesvirus 6 sequences. Other samples contained sequences with similarity to sequences from viruses in the Herpesviridae, Flaviviridae, Circoviridae, Anelloviridae, Asfarviridae, and Parvoviridae families. In some cases, the putative viral sequences were virtually identical to known viruses, and in others they diverged, suggesting that they may derive from novel viruses. These results demonstrate the utility of unbiased metagenomic approaches in the detection of known and divergent viruses in the study of tropical febrile illness.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3274504/

Detection of African swine fever virus-like sequences in ponds in the Mississippi Delta through metagenomic sequencing

" . .. further study is needed to characterize their potential risks to both public health and agricultural development."

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11262-013-0878-2

ASF virus, adapted to grow in VERO cells, produces a strong cytopathic effect in human macrophages leading to cell destruction.

http://vir.sgmjournals.org/content/34/3/455.short 

"Belarusan Prime Minister Mikhail Miasnikovich emphasized the need to raise the public's awareness of the problem with the African swine fever and justify precautions against the disease."

http://eurobelarus.info/en/news/society/2013/08/30/our-neighbours-should-realize-we-are-not-hiding-anything-miasnikovich-is-quoted-saying.html

Background on African Swine Fever Virus as a human pathogen:

"African Swine fever is an endemic disease in sub-Saharan Africa and many other parts of the developing world. It is caused by the African Swine virus that primarily replicates in macrophages and monocytes leading to the impairment of the structure and function of the immune system of the infected organisms. Until now the African Swine epidemic continues to spread despite all efforts to contain it. Thus, there is an objective need for effective, safe and affordable preventive and therapeutic approaches, in particular for effective vaccines, to control and eventually eradicate this disease. Since the characteristic feature of the African Swine virus is to impair the immune system and to cause immune deficiencies in its hosts the development of vaccines and other therapeutic approaches against the African Swine virus has implications for other immune deficiencies or diseases. Several other viruses are also known to cause immunodeficiency-like syndromes in humans, including cytomegalovirus, Epstein Barr Virus and others. Moreover, a series of cases of so-called "idiopathic" immunodeficiencies have been documented that display CD4+T-lymphocytopenia with opportunistic infections, but show no evidence of HIV infection. Since antibodies for the African Swine virus have been detected in humans, the possibility of human infection with the African Swine virus exists and may thus far have escaped any systematic screening. Thus, any preventive and therapeutic approach to African Swine fever can have far-reaching implications to control immune deficiency conditions in humans."http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20080207875

Detection of Novel Sequences Related to African Swine Fever Virus in Human Serum and Sewage.

Loh J, Zhao G, Presti RM, Holtz LR, Finkbeiner SR, Droit L, Villasana Z, Todd C, Pipas JM, Calgua B, Girones R, Wang D, Virgin HW.

Departments of Pathology & Immunology and Molecular Microbiology, Department of Medicine and Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

"The family Asfarviridae contains only a single virus species, African swine fever virus (ASFV). ASFV is a viral agent with significant economic impact due to its devastating effects on populations of domesticated pigs during outbreaks, but has not been reported to infect humans. We report here the discovery of novel viral sequences in human serum and sewage which are clearly related to the Asfarvirus family, but highly divergent from ASFV. Detection of these sequences suggests that greater genetic diversity may exist among Asfarviruses than previously thought, and raises the possibility that human infection by Asfarviruses may occur."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19812170?dopt=Abstract

African Swine Fever Virus (Asfarviridae) sequences found in people with febrile illnesses

Abstract

Virus Identification in Unknown Tropical Febrile Illness Cases Using Deep Sequencing

Dengue virus is an emerging infectious agent that infects an estimated 50–100 million people annually worldwide, yet current diagnostic practices cannot detect an etiologic pathogen in ∼40% of dengue-like illnesses. Metagenomic approaches to pathogen detection, such as viral microarrays and deep sequencing, are promising tools to address emerging and non-diagnosable disease challenges. In this study, we used the Virochip microarray and deep sequencing to characterize the spectrum of viruses present in human sera from 123 Nicaraguan patients presenting with dengue-like symptoms but testing negative for dengue virus. We utilized a barcoding strategy to simultaneously deep sequence multiple serum specimens, generating on average over 1 million reads per sample. We then implemented a stepwise bioinformatic filtering pipeline to remove the majority of human and low-quality sequences to improve the speed and accuracy of subsequent unbiased database searches. By deep sequencing, we were able to detect virus sequence in 37% (45/123) of previously negative cases. These included 13 cases with Human Herpesvirus 6 sequences. Other samples contained sequences with similarity to sequences from viruses in the Herpesviridae, Flaviviridae, Circoviridae, Anelloviridae, Asfarviridae, and Parvoviridae families. In some cases, the putative viral sequences were virtually identical to known viruses, and in others they diverged, suggesting that they may derive from novel viruses. These results demonstrate the utility of unbiased metagenomic approaches in the detection of known and divergent viruses in the study of tropical febrile illness.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3274504/

Detection of African swine fever virus-like sequences in ponds in the Mississippi Delta through metagenomic sequencing

" . .. further study is needed to characterize their potential risks to both public health and agricultural development."

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11262-013-0878-2

ASF virus, adapted to grow in VERO cells, produces a strong cytopathic effect in human macrophages leading to cell destruction.

http://vir.sgmjournals.org/content/34/3/455.short

Russia suspends pork imports from Belarus over African swine fever

http://www.1prime.biz/news/_Russia_suspends_pork_imports_from_Belarus_over_African_swine_fever/0/%7BB5B0C730-4834-4E86-9C63-91A73E5A4DBA%7D.uif

Ukraine to tighten control on border with Russia and Belarus due to threat of ASF

http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/ukraine-to-tighten-control-on-border-with-russia-and-belarus-due-to-threat-of-asf-328857.html

Back in 2007 Taiwan raised ASFV alert

http://www.efeedlink.com/contents/12-04-2007/d1ca0179-4329-406a-95b0-b085d4f8c234-a181.html


http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2007/12/01/2003390654 



Did China cover up ASFV back in 2007?


http://www.pigprogress.net/Home/General/2007/12/China-Denies-African-swine-fever-outbreak-PP001164W/


From ProMED:
 http://www.promedmail.org/direct.php?id=20070525.1675

 UNDIAGNOSED DISEASE, PORCINE - CHINA (05)
*****************************************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>
Date: Fri 25 May 2007
From: Peter Roeder <Peter.Roeder@fao.org>

Re: Porcine reprod & resp syndr - China (Guangdong): OIE
--------------------------------------------------------
I wonder if anyone has included African swine fever [ASF] in
diagnostic investigations of the syndrome. It is not only clinically
and pathologically virtually indistinguishable from classical swine
fever but has a demonstrated record of ability to spread globally.
China has a strong and increasing presence in Africa where the
disease is widespread and it is not beyond the realm of possibility
that a returning worker could have brought back some infected pork as happened in Belgium some years ago.
--
Communicated by:
Dr Peter Roeder, BVetMed, MSc, PhD, MRCVS
Animal Health Officer (Virology) and GREP Secretary
Animal Health Service
Animal Production and Health Division
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Rome, Italy
<Peter.Roeder@fao.org>
[The disease, which obtained in China the name "High fever disease"
since its 1st known detection in mid-2006, was initially attributed
to a mix infection of PRRS, classical swine fever (CSF) and porcine
circovirus (PCV-2), and probably additional agents; see China's
notification to the OIE of 14 Sep 2006, included in posting
20060924.2732. According to the recent Chinese notification to the
OIE of 9 May 2007, a similar syndrome in Guandong was "probably
caused by highly pathogenic Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory
Syndrome (PRRS) virus" while "laboratory diagnosis was ongoing".
ProMED-mail commented that the apparent case fatality rate (20
percent) hardly fits the description "sub-clinical" used in the
notification, and underlined the need for additional data on the PRRS
virus, currently circulating in vast areas of China and Vietnam, and
for the exclusion of other disease agents such as avian influenza
and classical swine fever (CSF); see commentary in archived 20070514.1533.
Dr. Roeder's suggestion to include ASF virus in the diagnostic
investigations of the syndrome is justified, particularly since the
"High fever disease," according to unofficial sources, has been
observed during the past several months in more than 7 provinces of
China killing more than 20 million pigs, while the official OIE
notification of 9 May 2007 referred to one province (Guandong).
For details on Belgium's ASF outbreak in 1985, see Mod PC's
commentary in posting Classical Swine Fever (CSF) -
Europe 19970219.0406. - Mod.AS].

Additional measures to fight African swine fever in Belarus

http://www.blackseagrain.net/novosti/additional-measures-to-fight-african-swine-fever-in-belarus

Introduction of African Swine Fever into the European Union through Illegal Importation of Pork and Pork Products

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0061104

Threat of African swine fever persists in seven Moscow districts

http://www.interfax.co.uk/russia-business-and-financial-news/threat-of-african-swine-fever-persists-in-seven-moscow-districts/

Additional measures to fight African swine fever in Belarus

http://news.belta.by/en/news/econom?id=724572

African swine fever also in northern Belarus

http://euroradio.by/en/african-swine-fever-also-northern-belarus

CTV TV-channel shows map of African swine fever in Belarus (video)

Belarus President against disregarding people’s interests in fighting swine fever

Also promotes the potentially bogus notion that ASFV can't infect people.

http://www.belarus.by/en/government/events/belarus-president-against-disregarding-peoples-interests-in-fighting-swine-fever_i_0000007153.html

Outbreak of African pig plague reported in central Russia

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/848086.html

Will people in England soon be eating pork infected with African Swine Fever Virus?

UK retailers switching to imported pork

http://www.pigprogress.net/Pork-Processing/Markets/2013/8/UK-retailers-switching-to-imported-pork-1339412W/

Lithuania's pig farmers to be encouraged to turn to other kinds of domestic animals

http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/markets_and_companies/?doc=79283

New outbreak of African swine fever reported from two Russian regions

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c36/842720.html

Hiding information about the African swine only stimulates epidemics

http://eurobelarus.info/en/news/society/2013/08/15/aliaksei-tsiul-kou-hiding-information-about-the-african-swine-only-stimulates-epidemics.html

Belarus kills thousands of pigs to stop a pandemic

http://eurobelarus.info/en/news/society/2013/08/15/belarus-kills-thousands-of-pigs-to-stop-a-pandemic.html

Are Russian Farmers Eating Pigs Infected with African Swine Fever?

http://www.globalmeatnews.com/Industry-Markets/Russia-culls-70-000-pigs-in-ASF-backlash

Background on African Swine Fever Virus as a human pathogen:

"African Swine fever is an endemic disease in sub-Saharan Africa and many other parts of the developing world. It is caused by the African Swine virus that primarily replicates in macrophages and monocytes leading to the impairment of the structure and function of the immune system of the infected organisms. Until now the African Swine epidemic continues to spread despite all efforts to contain it. Thus, there is an objective need for effective, safe and affordable preventive and therapeutic approaches, in particular for effective vaccines, to control and eventually eradicate this disease. Since the characteristic feature of the African Swine virus is to impair the immune system and to cause immune deficiencies in its hosts the development of vaccines and other therapeutic approaches against the African Swine virus has implications for other immune deficiencies or diseases. Several other viruses are also known to cause immunodeficiency-like syndromes in humans, including cytomegalovirus, Epstein Barr Virus and others. Moreover, a series of cases of so-called "idiopathic" immunodeficiencies have been documented that display CD4+T-lymphocytopenia with opportunistic infections, but show no evidence of HIV infection. Since antibodies for the African Swine virus have been detected in humans, the possibility of human infection with the African Swine virus exists and may thus far have escaped any systematic screening. Thus, any preventive and therapeutic approach to African Swine fever can have far-reaching implications to control immune deficiency conditions in humans."http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20080207875

Detection of Novel Sequences Related to African Swine Fever Virus in Human Serum and Sewage.

Loh J, Zhao G, Presti RM, Holtz LR, Finkbeiner SR, Droit L, Villasana Z, Todd C, Pipas JM, Calgua B, Girones R, Wang D, Virgin HW.

Departments of Pathology & Immunology and Molecular Microbiology, Department of Medicine and Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

"The family Asfarviridae contains only a single virus species, African swine fever virus (ASFV). ASFV is a viral agent with significant economic impact due to its devastating effects on populations of domesticated pigs during outbreaks, but has not been reported to infect humans. We report here the discovery of novel viral sequences in human serum and sewage which are clearly related to the Asfarvirus family, but highly divergent from ASFV. Detection of these sequences suggests that greater genetic diversity may exist among Asfarviruses than previously thought, and raises the possibility that human infection by Asfarviruses may occur."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19812170?dopt=Abstract

African Swine Fever Virus (Asfarviridae) sequences found in people with febrile illnesses

Abstract

Virus Identification in Unknown Tropical Febrile Illness Cases Using Deep Sequencing

Dengue virus is an emerging infectious agent that infects an estimated 50–100 million people annually worldwide, yet current diagnostic practices cannot detect an etiologic pathogen in ∼40% of dengue-like illnesses. Metagenomic approaches to pathogen detection, such as viral microarrays and deep sequencing, are promising tools to address emerging and non-diagnosable disease challenges. In this study, we used the Virochip microarray and deep sequencing to characterize the spectrum of viruses present in human sera from 123 Nicaraguan patients presenting with dengue-like symptoms but testing negative for dengue virus. We utilized a barcoding strategy to simultaneously deep sequence multiple serum specimens, generating on average over 1 million reads per sample. We then implemented a stepwise bioinformatic filtering pipeline to remove the majority of human and low-quality sequences to improve the speed and accuracy of subsequent unbiased database searches. By deep sequencing, we were able to detect virus sequence in 37% (45/123) of previously negative cases. These included 13 cases with Human Herpesvirus 6 sequences. Other samples contained sequences with similarity to sequences from viruses in the Herpesviridae, Flaviviridae, Circoviridae, Anelloviridae, Asfarviridae, and Parvoviridae families. In some cases, the putative viral sequences were virtually identical to known viruses, and in others they diverged, suggesting that they may derive from novel viruses. These results demonstrate the utility of unbiased metagenomic approaches in the detection of known and divergent viruses in the study of tropical febrile illness.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3274504/

Detection of African swine fever virus-like sequences in ponds in the Mississippi Delta through metagenomic sequencing

" . .. further study is needed to characterize their potential risks to both public health and agricultural development."

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11262-013-0878-2

Official describes government's action plan for African swine fever as state secret

http://udf.by/english/soc/84774-official-describes-governments-action-plan-for-african-swine-fever-as-state-secret.html

ASF found near Moscow, Russia

http://www.pigprogress.net/Health-Diseases/Outbreaks/2013/8/ASF-found-near-Moscow-Russia-1333562W/

Lithuania needs to change emergency law to fight African swine fever

http://www.lithuaniatribune.com/47426/lithuania-needs-to-change-emergency-law-to-fight-african-swine-fever-201347426/

60% disapprove of building fence on borders to fight African swine fever

http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/transport/?doc=79037

Russians burn pigs to curb disease

http://www.ontariofarmer.com/sitepages/?aid=8033&cn=QUICKLINKS&an=Russians%20burn%20pigs%20to%20curb%20disease

What every French and German journalist should know about African Swine Fever Virus

Russian Scientist: ASF could become a human health risk

"The African swine fever (ASF) virus, may in the future become dangerous for humans, according to the head of the Russian Epidemiology Service, Chief State Sanitary Doctor Gennady Onishchenko, at the press-conference in St. Petersburg. According to him almost all viruses from time to time go through mutation processes which can give them some additional functions."

 http://www.pigprogress.net/Health-Diseases/Outbreaks/2013/7/ASF-could-become-a-human-health-risk-1308047W/

 

 

Background on African Swine Fever Virus as a human pathogen:

"African Swine fever is an endemic disease in sub-Saharan Africa and many other parts of the developing world. It is caused by the African Swine virus that primarily replicates in macrophages and monocytes leading to the impairment of the structure and function of the immune system of the infected organisms. Until now the African Swine epidemic continues to spread despite all efforts to contain it. Thus, there is an objective need for effective, safe and affordable preventive and therapeutic approaches, in particular for effective vaccines, to control and eventually eradicate this disease. Since the characteristic feature of the African Swine virus is to impair the immune system and to cause immune deficiencies in its hosts the development of vaccines and other therapeutic approaches against the African Swine virus has implications for other immune deficiencies or diseases. Several other viruses are also known to cause immunodeficiency-like syndromes in humans, including cytomegalovirus, Epstein Barr Virus and others. Moreover, a series of cases of so-called "idiopathic" immunodeficiencies have been documented that display CD4+T-lymphocytopenia with opportunistic infections, but show no evidence of HIV infection. Since antibodies for the African Swine virus have been detected in humans, the possibility of human infection with the African Swine virus exists and may thus far have escaped any systematic screening. Thus, any preventive and therapeutic approach to African Swine fever can have far-reaching implications to control immune deficiency conditions in humans."http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20080207875

Detection of Novel Sequences Related to African Swine Fever Virus in Human Serum and Sewage.

Loh J, Zhao G, Presti RM, Holtz LR, Finkbeiner SR, Droit L, Villasana Z, Todd C, Pipas JM, Calgua B, Girones R, Wang D, Virgin HW.

Departments of Pathology & Immunology and Molecular Microbiology, Department of Medicine and Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

"The family Asfarviridae contains only a single virus species, African swine fever virus (ASFV). ASFV is a viral agent with significant economic impact due to its devastating effects on populations of domesticated pigs during outbreaks, but has not been reported to infect humans. We report here the discovery of novel viral sequences in human serum and sewage which are clearly related to the Asfarvirus family, but highly divergent from ASFV. Detection of these sequences suggests that greater genetic diversity may exist among Asfarviruses than previously thought, and raises the possibility that human infection by Asfarviruses may occur."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19812170?dopt=Abstract

African Swine Fever Virus (Asfarviridae) sequences found in people with febrile illnesses

Abstract

Virus Identification in Unknown Tropical Febrile Illness Cases Using Deep Sequencing

Dengue virus is an emerging infectious agent that infects an estimated 50–100 million people annually worldwide, yet current diagnostic practices cannot detect an etiologic pathogen in ∼40% of dengue-like illnesses. Metagenomic approaches to pathogen detection, such as viral microarrays and deep sequencing, are promising tools to address emerging and non-diagnosable disease challenges. In this study, we used the Virochip microarray and deep sequencing to characterize the spectrum of viruses present in human sera from 123 Nicaraguan patients presenting with dengue-like symptoms but testing negative for dengue virus. We utilized a barcoding strategy to simultaneously deep sequence multiple serum specimens, generating on average over 1 million reads per sample. We then implemented a stepwise bioinformatic filtering pipeline to remove the majority of human and low-quality sequences to improve the speed and accuracy of subsequent unbiased database searches. By deep sequencing, we were able to detect virus sequence in 37% (45/123) of previously negative cases. These included 13 cases with Human Herpesvirus 6 sequences. Other samples contained sequences with similarity to sequences from viruses in the Herpesviridae, Flaviviridae, Circoviridae, Anelloviridae, Asfarviridae, and Parvoviridae families. In some cases, the putative viral sequences were virtually identical to known viruses, and in others they diverged, suggesting that they may derive from novel viruses. These results demonstrate the utility of unbiased metagenomic approaches in the detection of known and divergent viruses in the study of tropical febrile illness.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3274504/

Detection of African swine fever virus-like sequences in ponds in the Mississippi Delta through metagenomic sequencing

" . .. further study is needed to characterize their potential risks to both public health and agricultural development."

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11262-013-0878-2

ASF virus, adapted to grow in VERO cells, produces a strong cytopathic effect in human macrophages leading to cell destruction.

http://vir.sgmjournals.org/content/34/3/455.short

Assessing the Risk of African Swine Fever Introduction into the European Union by Wild Boar

"The highest risk was found to be concentrated in Finland, Romania, Latvia and Poland"

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/tbed.12129/abstract

EU countries consider wall to block African Swine Fever

Might cut Eastern Europe in half.

http://www.globalmeatnews.com/Industry-Markets/EU-countries-consider-wall-to-block-ASF

Uganda: Moyo Bans Consumption of Pork

". .. owners of the affected pigs have been smoking them for consumption instead of reporting to authorities"

http://ugandaradionetwork.com/a/story.php?s=27449&PHPSESSID=00e9be181ff9e9b800984116966d9412

Belarus Kills Thousands of Pigs to Stop a Pandemic

http://belarusdigest.com/story/belarus-kills-thousands-pigs-stop-pandemic-14975

Russia Developing Infection-'Neutralization' System

http://www.nationaljournal.com/global-security-newswire/russia-developing-infection-neutralization-system-20130805

ASFV on the Border of Ukraine

http://www.unn.com.ua/en/news/1237687-na-kordoni-z-ukrayinoyu-zafiksovano-noviy-spalakh-afrikanskoyi-chumi-sviney

ASF in Tambov, Smolensk, Volgograd, Moscow, Tula Regions

http://www.thepigsite.com/swinenews/33913/asf-in-tambov-smolensk-volgograd-moscow-tula-regions

Pig breeders offer tough measures to fight African Swine Fever in Russia

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/830286.html

Germany’s Bayer offers help to do away with African swine fever in Russia

http://pda.itar-tass.com/en/c32/829558.html

ASFV doesn't infect humans? Russian scientists have their doubts.

http://www.globalmeatnews.com/Industry-Markets/Russian-prisoners-fed-contaminated-pork

Potential harm of African Swine Fever to humans is poorly understood

http://www.globalmeatnews.com/Industry-Markets/Russian-prisoners-fed-contaminated-pork

Meat contaminated with African Swine Fever Virus is circulating in the Russian markets

http://www.globalmeatnews.com/Industry-Markets/Russian-prisoners-fed-contaminated-pork

"The AIDS viral ecology coincided with African swine fever (ASF) in the Americas. Haiti became the focal point for both infections."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1626879

"ASF virus, adapted to grow in VERO cells, produces a strong cytopathic effect in human macrophages leading to cell destruction"

http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/856945

"Now the disease is a continental-scale threat."

Ban on wild boar culling might be fraught with biological catastrophe

"Risks of the infection spreading are colossal, since Poland has a very big wild boar population. Infected animals will spread ASF across the entire Europe just overnight"

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/827331.html

What every Russian journalist should know about African Swine Fever virus

Russian Scientist: ASF could become a human health risk

"The African swine fever (ASF) virus, may in the future become dangerous for humans, according to the head of the Russian Epidemiology Service, Chief State Sanitary Doctor Gennady Onishchenko, at the press-conference in St. Petersburg. According to him almost all viruses from time to time go through mutation processes which can give them some additional functions."

 http://www.pigprogress.net/Health-Diseases/Outbreaks/2013/7/ASF-could-become-a-human-health-risk-1308047W/

 

 

 

 

 

Articles continue to insist ASFV does not affect humans. Is that a Big Lie?

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/821223.html

Background on African Swine Fever Virus as a human pathogen:

"African Swine fever is an endemic disease in sub-Saharan Africa and many other parts of the developing world. It is caused by the African Swine virus that primarily replicates in macrophages and monocytes leading to the impairment of the structure and function of the immune system of the infected organisms. Until now the African Swine epidemic continues to spread despite all efforts to contain it. Thus, there is an objective need for effective, safe and affordable preventive and therapeutic approaches, in particular for effective vaccines, to control and eventually eradicate this disease. Since the characteristic feature of the African Swine virus is to impair the immune system and to cause immune deficiencies in its hosts the development of vaccines and other therapeutic approaches against the African Swine virus has implications for other immune deficiencies or diseases. Several other viruses are also known to cause immunodeficiency-like syndromes in humans, including cytomegalovirus, Epstein Barr Virus and others. Moreover, a series of cases of so-called "idiopathic" immunodeficiencies have been documented that display CD4+T-lymphocytopenia with opportunistic infections, but show no evidence of HIV infection. Since antibodies for the African Swine virus have been detected in humans, the possibility of human infection with the African Swine virus exists and may thus far have escaped any systematic screening. Thus, any preventive and therapeutic approach to African Swine fever can have far-reaching implications to control immune deficiency conditions in humans."http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20080207875

Detection of Novel Sequences Related to African Swine Fever Virus in Human Serum and Sewage.

Loh J, Zhao G, Presti RM, Holtz LR, Finkbeiner SR, Droit L, Villasana Z, Todd C, Pipas JM, Calgua B, Girones R, Wang D, Virgin HW.

Departments of Pathology & Immunology and Molecular Microbiology, Department of Medicine and Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

"The family Asfarviridae contains only a single virus species, African swine fever virus (ASFV). ASFV is a viral agent with significant economic impact due to its devastating effects on populations of domesticated pigs during outbreaks, but has not been reported to infect humans. We report here the discovery of novel viral sequences in human serum and sewage which are clearly related to the Asfarvirus family, but highly divergent from ASFV. Detection of these sequences suggests that greater genetic diversity may exist among Asfarviruses than previously thought, and raises the possibility that human infection by Asfarviruses may occur."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19812170?dopt=Abstract

African Swine Fever Virus (Asfarviridae) sequences found in people with febrile illnesses

Abstract

Virus Identification in Unknown Tropical Febrile Illness Cases Using Deep Sequencing

Dengue virus is an emerging infectious agent that infects an estimated 50–100 million people annually worldwide, yet current diagnostic practices cannot detect an etiologic pathogen in ∼40% of dengue-like illnesses. Metagenomic approaches to pathogen detection, such as viral microarrays and deep sequencing, are promising tools to address emerging and non-diagnosable disease challenges. In this study, we used the Virochip microarray and deep sequencing to characterize the spectrum of viruses present in human sera from 123 Nicaraguan patients presenting with dengue-like symptoms but testing negative for dengue virus. We utilized a barcoding strategy to simultaneously deep sequence multiple serum specimens, generating on average over 1 million reads per sample. We then implemented a stepwise bioinformatic filtering pipeline to remove the majority of human and low-quality sequences to improve the speed and accuracy of subsequent unbiased database searches. By deep sequencing, we were able to detect virus sequence in 37% (45/123) of previously negative cases. These included 13 cases with Human Herpesvirus 6 sequences. Other samples contained sequences with similarity to sequences from viruses in the Herpesviridae, Flaviviridae, Circoviridae, Anelloviridae, Asfarviridae, and Parvoviridae families. In some cases, the putative viral sequences were virtually identical to known viruses, and in others they diverged, suggesting that they may derive from novel viruses. These results demonstrate the utility of unbiased metagenomic approaches in the detection of known and divergent viruses in the study of tropical febrile illness.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3274504/

Detection of African swine fever virus-like sequences in ponds in the Mississippi Delta through metagenomic sequencing

" . .. further study is needed to characterize their potential risks to both public health and agricultural development."

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11262-013-0878-2

ASF virus, adapted to grow in VERO cells, produces a strong cytopathic effect in human macrophages leading to cell destruction.

http://vir.sgmjournals.org/content/34/3/455.short

"It is thought that Russian back-yard producers have no reason to trust authorities and are likely to sabotage any efforts to keep ASF at bay."

Russia May Ban Backyard Pig Production

http://www.thepigsite.com/swinenews/33880/russia-may-ban-backyard-pig-production

Russian ministry of natural resources: Wild boar culling will not prevent ASF spread

"According to the ministry, the key factor behind African swine fever outbreaks is the so-called human factor, i.e. violations of veterinary and sanitary norms at pig farms and illegal transportation of infected products."
http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c32/827301.html

Russian prime minister to tackle African swine fever problem

http://www.heraldscotland.com/business/farming/russian-prime-minister-to-tackle-african-swine-fever-problem.21749152

Is a strain of Afican Swine Fever Virus already infecting people in Ameica?

Detection of African swine fever virus-like sequences in ponds in the Mississippi Delta through metagenomic sequencing

" . .. further study is needed to characterize their potential risks to both public health and agricultural development."

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11262-013-0878-2

Pigs Burned Alive in Russia

http://www.acompassionateworld.org/tag/african-swine-fever/

Experts link outbreak of African swine fever in Russia's Pskov province to contaminated feed imported from Belarus

http://naviny.by/rubrics/english/2013/07/27/ic_news_259_421845/

Articles continue to insist ASFV does not affect humans. Is that a Big Lie?

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/821223.html

Background on African Swine Fever Virus as a human pathogen:

"African Swine fever is an endemic disease in sub-Saharan Africa and many other parts of the developing world. It is caused by the African Swine virus that primarily replicates in macrophages and monocytes leading to the impairment of the structure and function of the immune system of the infected organisms. Until now the African Swine epidemic continues to spread despite all efforts to contain it. Thus, there is an objective need for effective, safe and affordable preventive and therapeutic approaches, in particular for effective vaccines, to control and eventually eradicate this disease. Since the characteristic feature of the African Swine virus is to impair the immune system and to cause immune deficiencies in its hosts the development of vaccines and other therapeutic approaches against the African Swine virus has implications for other immune deficiencies or diseases. Several other viruses are also known to cause immunodeficiency-like syndromes in humans, including cytomegalovirus, Epstein Barr Virus and others. Moreover, a series of cases of so-called "idiopathic" immunodeficiencies have been documented that display CD4+T-lymphocytopenia with opportunistic infections, but show no evidence of HIV infection. Since antibodies for the African Swine virus have been detected in humans, the possibility of human infection with the African Swine virus exists and may thus far have escaped any systematic screening. Thus, any preventive and therapeutic approach to African Swine fever can have far-reaching implications to control immune deficiency conditions in humans."http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20080207875

Detection of Novel Sequences Related to African Swine Fever Virus in Human Serum and Sewage.

Loh J, Zhao G, Presti RM, Holtz LR, Finkbeiner SR, Droit L, Villasana Z, Todd C, Pipas JM, Calgua B, Girones R, Wang D, Virgin HW.

Departments of Pathology & Immunology and Molecular Microbiology, Department of Medicine and Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

"The family Asfarviridae contains only a single virus species, African swine fever virus (ASFV). ASFV is a viral agent with significant economic impact due to its devastating effects on populations of domesticated pigs during outbreaks, but has not been reported to infect humans. We report here the discovery of novel viral sequences in human serum and sewage which are clearly related to the Asfarvirus family, but highly divergent from ASFV. Detection of these sequences suggests that greater genetic diversity may exist among Asfarviruses than previously thought, and raises the possibility that human infection by Asfarviruses may occur."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19812170?dopt=Abstract

African Swine Fever Virus (Asfarviridae) sequences found in people with febrile illnesses

Abstract

Virus Identification in Unknown Tropical Febrile Illness Cases Using Deep Sequencing

Dengue virus is an emerging infectious agent that infects an estimated 50–100 million people annually worldwide, yet current diagnostic practices cannot detect an etiologic pathogen in ∼40% of dengue-like illnesses. Metagenomic approaches to pathogen detection, such as viral microarrays and deep sequencing, are promising tools to address emerging and non-diagnosable disease challenges. In this study, we used the Virochip microarray and deep sequencing to characterize the spectrum of viruses present in human sera from 123 Nicaraguan patients presenting with dengue-like symptoms but testing negative for dengue virus. We utilized a barcoding strategy to simultaneously deep sequence multiple serum specimens, generating on average over 1 million reads per sample. We then implemented a stepwise bioinformatic filtering pipeline to remove the majority of human and low-quality sequences to improve the speed and accuracy of subsequent unbiased database searches. By deep sequencing, we were able to detect virus sequence in 37% (45/123) of previously negative cases. These included 13 cases with Human Herpesvirus 6 sequences. Other samples contained sequences with similarity to sequences from viruses in the Herpesviridae, Flaviviridae, Circoviridae, Anelloviridae, Asfarviridae, and Parvoviridae families. In some cases, the putative viral sequences were virtually identical to known viruses, and in others they diverged, suggesting that they may derive from novel viruses. These results demonstrate the utility of unbiased metagenomic approaches in the detection of known and divergent viruses in the study of tropical febrile illness.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3274504/

Detection of African swine fever virus-like sequences in ponds in the Mississippi Delta through metagenomic sequencing

" . .. further study is needed to characterize their potential risks to both public health and agricultural development."

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11262-013-0878-2

ASF virus, adapted to grow in VERO cells, produces a strong cytopathic effect in human macrophages leading to cell destruction.

http://vir.sgmjournals.org/content/34/3/455.short

ASF could become a human health risk
"The African swine fever (ASF) virus, may in the future become dangerous for humans, according to the head of the Russian Epidemiology Service, Chief State Sanitary Doctor Gennady Onishchenko, at the press-conference in St. Petersburg. According to him almost all viruses from time to time go through mutation processes which can give them some additional functions."

 http://www.pigprogress.net/Health-Diseases/Outbreaks/2013/7/ASF-could-become-a-human-health-risk-1308047W/

New outbreak of African swine fever fixed in Russian Volgograd region

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/820611.html

African Swine Fever could cause Russia to lose its pork exports

http://www.globalmeatnews.com/Industry-Markets/ASF-threatens-Russian-pork-exports

Agriculture minister advises to stop panicking over ASF in Belarus

http://news.belta.by/en/news/society?id=721863

Russia: "Belgorod region has become the 13th region, where this year recorded African swine fever."

http://meatind.ru/en/news/1246/

African Swine Fever Primarily Transmitted by Humans

http://www.aasp.org/news/story.php?id=4824

Luggage of persons travelling from Russia to Latvia to be checked for African swine fever

http://bnn-news.com/luggage-persons-travelling-russia-checked-african-swine-fever-100250

Lithuania starts footwear disinfection at border with Belarus to block African Swine Fever

http://www.lithuaniatribune.com/45714/lithuania-starts-footwear-disinfection-at-border-with-belarus-201345714/

Russian Prisoners Were Fed Pork contaminated with African Swine Fever Virus

http://www.globalmeatnews.com/Industry-Markets/Russian-prisoners-fed-contaminated-pork

Russia: Government to Ban Pigs on Private Farms

"Almost 4.5 million pigs that are now kept on private farms might soon lose their owners as the government attempts to fight an outbreak of African swine fever that is sweeping across the country."

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/government-to-ban-pigs-on-private-farms/483516.html

African Swine Fever and AIDS

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1917&dat=19860307&id=uAkhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WnIFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6006,1184527

ASFV in Humans: "Detection of these sequences suggests that greater genetic diversity may exist among asfarviruses than previously thought and raises the possibility that human infection by asfarviruses may occur."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19812170?dopt=Abstract

" . . . any preventive and therapeutic approach to African Swine fever can have far-reaching implications to control immune deficiency conditions in humans."

http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20080207875

"Since antibodies for the African Swine virus have been detected in humans, the possibility of human infection with the African Swine virus exists and may thus far have escaped any systematic screening."

http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20080207875

Preventive and Therapeutic Use of polypeptides from African Swine Virus as Vaccines for Pigs and People

http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20080207875

ASF Threatens EU Pig Industry

http://www.globalmeatnews.com/Industry-Markets/ASF-threatens-EU-pig-industry?utm_source=RSS_text_news&utm_medium=RSS%2Bfeed&utm_campaign=RSS%2BText%2BNews

France increases the surveillance against African Swine Fever

http://www.pig333.com/latest_swine_news/france-increases-the-surveillance-against-african-swine-fever_7444/

More Outbreaks of African Swine Fever Reported

http://www.thepigsite.com/swinenews/33733/more-outbreaks-of-african-swine-fever-reported

Pathology of Porcine Peripheral White Blood Cells during Infection with African Swine Fever Virus

http://www.thepigsite.com/articles/3871/pathology-of-porcine-peripheral-white-blood-cells-during-infection-with-african-swine-fever-virus

Concern grows in Baltic States about possible spread of African swine fever

 "Brussels is very concerned about the situation. If even one outbreak is found in either Lithuania or Latvia, exports of pork from all EU countries will stop," said Ionas Milius, the head of the State Veterinary and Food Authority of Lithuania. According to experts the recent actions of Belarus has put EU countries at the very high risk of ASF spread.

http://www.ukrainebusiness.com.ua/news/10049.html

More Outbreaks of African Swine Fever Reported

http://www.thepigsite.com/swinenews/33733/more-outbreaks-of-african-swine-fever-reported

African swine fever is found in Moscow

http://www.tradekeynews.com/2013/07/african-swine-fever-is-found-in-moscow.html

Background on African Swine Fever Virus as a human pathogen:

"African Swine fever is an endemic disease in sub-Saharan Africa and many other parts of the developing world. It is caused by the African Swine virus that primarily replicates in macrophages and monocytes leading to the impairment of the structure and function of the immune system of the infected organisms. Until now the African Swine epidemic continues to spread despite all efforts to contain it. Thus, there is an objective need for effective, safe and affordable preventive and therapeutic approaches, in particular for effective vaccines, to control and eventually eradicate this disease. Since the characteristic feature of the African Swine virus is to impair the immune system and to cause immune deficiencies in its hosts the development of vaccines and other therapeutic approaches against the African Swine virus has implications for other immune deficiencies or diseases. Several other viruses are also known to cause immunodeficiency-like syndromes in humans, including cytomegalovirus, Epstein Barr Virus and others. Moreover, a series of cases of so-called "idiopathic" immunodeficiencies have been documented that display CD4+T-lymphocytopenia with opportunistic infections, but show no evidence of HIV infection. Since antibodies for the African Swine virus have been detected in humans, the possibility of human infection with the African Swine virus exists and may thus far have escaped any systematic screening. Thus, any preventive and therapeutic approach to African Swine fever can have far-reaching implications to control immune deficiency conditions in humans."http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20080207875

Detection of Novel Sequences Related to African Swine Fever Virus in Human Serum and Sewage.

Loh J, Zhao G, Presti RM, Holtz LR, Finkbeiner SR, Droit L, Villasana Z, Todd C, Pipas JM, Calgua B, Girones R, Wang D, Virgin HW.

Departments of Pathology & Immunology and Molecular Microbiology, Department of Medicine and Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

"The family Asfarviridae contains only a single virus species, African swine fever virus (ASFV). ASFV is a viral agent with significant economic impact due to its devastating effects on populations of domesticated pigs during outbreaks, but has not been reported to infect humans. We report here the discovery of novel viral sequences in human serum and sewage which are clearly related to the Asfarvirus family, but highly divergent from ASFV. Detection of these sequences suggests that greater genetic diversity may exist among Asfarviruses than previously thought, and raises the possibility that human infection by Asfarviruses may occur."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19812170?dopt=Abstract

African Swine Fever Virus (Asfarviridae) sequences found in people with febrile illnesses

Abstract

Virus Identification in Unknown Tropical Febrile Illness Cases Using Deep Sequencing

Dengue virus is an emerging infectious agent that infects an estimated 50–100 million people annually worldwide, yet current diagnostic practices cannot detect an etiologic pathogen in ∼40% of dengue-like illnesses. Metagenomic approaches to pathogen detection, such as viral microarrays and deep sequencing, are promising tools to address emerging and non-diagnosable disease challenges. In this study, we used the Virochip microarray and deep sequencing to characterize the spectrum of viruses present in human sera from 123 Nicaraguan patients presenting with dengue-like symptoms but testing negative for dengue virus. We utilized a barcoding strategy to simultaneously deep sequence multiple serum specimens, generating on average over 1 million reads per sample. We then implemented a stepwise bioinformatic filtering pipeline to remove the majority of human and low-quality sequences to improve the speed and accuracy of subsequent unbiased database searches. By deep sequencing, we were able to detect virus sequence in 37% (45/123) of previously negative cases. These included 13 cases with Human Herpesvirus 6 sequences. Other samples contained sequences with similarity to sequences from viruses in the Herpesviridae, Flaviviridae, Circoviridae, Anelloviridae, Asfarviridae, and Parvoviridae families. In some cases, the putative viral sequences were virtually identical to known viruses, and in others they diverged, suggesting that they may derive from novel viruses. These results demonstrate the utility of unbiased metagenomic approaches in the detection of known and divergent viruses in the study of tropical febrile illness.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3274504/

Detection of African swine fever virus-like sequences in ponds in the Mississippi Delta through metagenomic sequencing

" . .. further study is needed to characterize their potential risks to both public health and agricultural development."

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11262-013-0878-2

ASF virus, adapted to grow in VERO cells, produces a strong cytopathic effect in human macrophages leading to cell destruction.

http://vir.sgmjournals.org/content/34/3/455.short

ASF could become a human health risk
"The African swine fever (ASF) virus, may in the future become dangerous for humans, according to the head of the Russian Epidemiology Service, Chief State Sanitary Doctor Gennady Onishchenko, at the press-conference in St. Petersburg. According to him almost all viruses from time to time go through mutation processes which can give them some additional functions."

 http://www.pigprogress.net/Health-Diseases/Outbreaks/2013/7/ASF-could-become-a-human-health-risk-1308047W/

Background on African Swine Fever Virus as a human pathogen:

"African Swine fever is an endemic disease in sub-Saharan Africa and many other parts of the developing world. It is caused by the African Swine virus that primarily replicates in macrophages and monocytes leading to the impairment of the structure and function of the immune system of the infected organisms. Until now the African Swine epidemic continues to spread despite all efforts to contain it. Thus, there is an objective need for effective, safe and affordable preventive and therapeutic approaches, in particular for effective vaccines, to control and eventually eradicate this disease. Since the characteristic feature of the African Swine virus is to impair the immune system and to cause immune deficiencies in its hosts the development of vaccines and other therapeutic approaches against the African Swine virus has implications for other immune deficiencies or diseases. Several other viruses are also known to cause immunodeficiency-like syndromes in humans, including cytomegalovirus, Epstein Barr Virus and others. Moreover, a series of cases of so-called "idiopathic" immunodeficiencies have been documented that display CD4+T-lymphocytopenia with opportunistic infections, but show no evidence of HIV infection. Since antibodies for the African Swine virus have been detected in humans, the possibility of human infection with the African Swine virus exists and may thus far have escaped any systematic screening. Thus, any preventive and therapeutic approach to African Swine fever can have far-reaching implications to control immune deficiency conditions in humans."http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20080207875

Detection of Novel Sequences Related to African Swine Fever Virus in Human Serum and Sewage.

Loh J, Zhao G, Presti RM, Holtz LR, Finkbeiner SR, Droit L, Villasana Z, Todd C, Pipas JM, Calgua B, Girones R, Wang D, Virgin HW.

Departments of Pathology & Immunology and Molecular Microbiology, Department of Medicine and Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

"The family Asfarviridae contains only a single virus species, African swine fever virus (ASFV). ASFV is a viral agent with significant economic impact due to its devastating effects on populations of domesticated pigs during outbreaks, but has not been reported to infect humans. We report here the discovery of novel viral sequences in human serum and sewage which are clearly related to the Asfarvirus family, but highly divergent from ASFV. Detection of these sequences suggests that greater genetic diversity may exist among Asfarviruses than previously thought, and raises the possibility that human infection by Asfarviruses may occur."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19812170?dopt=Abstract

African Swine Fever Virus (Asfarviridae) sequences found in people with febrile illnesses

Abstract

Virus Identification in Unknown Tropical Febrile Illness Cases Using Deep Sequencing

Dengue virus is an emerging infectious agent that infects an estimated 50–100 million people annually worldwide, yet current diagnostic practices cannot detect an etiologic pathogen in ∼40% of dengue-like illnesses. Metagenomic approaches to pathogen detection, such as viral microarrays and deep sequencing, are promising tools to address emerging and non-diagnosable disease challenges. In this study, we used the Virochip microarray and deep sequencing to characterize the spectrum of viruses present in human sera from 123 Nicaraguan patients presenting with dengue-like symptoms but testing negative for dengue virus. We utilized a barcoding strategy to simultaneously deep sequence multiple serum specimens, generating on average over 1 million reads per sample. We then implemented a stepwise bioinformatic filtering pipeline to remove the majority of human and low-quality sequences to improve the speed and accuracy of subsequent unbiased database searches. By deep sequencing, we were able to detect virus sequence in 37% (45/123) of previously negative cases. These included 13 cases with Human Herpesvirus 6 sequences. Other samples contained sequences with similarity to sequences from viruses in the Herpesviridae, Flaviviridae, Circoviridae, Anelloviridae, Asfarviridae, and Parvoviridae families. In some cases, the putative viral sequences were virtually identical to known viruses, and in others they diverged, suggesting that they may derive from novel viruses. These results demonstrate the utility of unbiased metagenomic approaches in the detection of known and divergent viruses in the study of tropical febrile illness.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3274504/

Detection of African swine fever virus-like sequences in ponds in the Mississippi Delta through metagenomic sequencing

" . .. further study is needed to characterize their potential risks to both public health and agricultural development."

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11262-013-0878-2

ASF virus, adapted to grow in VERO cells, produces a strong cytopathic effect in human macrophages leading to cell destruction.

http://vir.sgmjournals.org/content/34/3/455.short

Could this happen to macrophages in humans infected with African Swine Fever Virus?

Cytokines produced by cells of the immune system, including macrophages, can influence inflammatory responses to viral infection. This has been exploited by viruses, which have developed strategies to direct the immune response towards ineffective responses. African swine fever virus (ASFV) is a double-stranded DNA virus that infects macrophages of domestic swine. In this study, primary cells of monocyte macrophage lineage were obtained from the lungs, peritoneum or blood of domestic swine and, after infection with ASFV, supernatants were tested for cytokines using biological assays. The cytokine transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) was detected after infection of macrophage preparations, but tumour necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin-1 (IL-1) were not detected. ASFV-infected and uninfected macrophage populations were also tested to assess their ability to respond to cytokines by enhancing production of superoxide in the respiratory burst mechanism. Responses to interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) were suppressed in macrophage populations infected with virus, even at low multiplicities of infection. Addition of TGF-beta to uninfected macrophages resulted in a similar suppression of response, but antibody to TGF-beta did not prevent suppression induced by virus. These results are discussed in relation to the pathology of African swine fever.

Source:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1364015/ 

Will African Swine Fever affect the natural killer cells in humans infected with it?

"The natural killing of the human myeloid leukaemia cell line by pig mononuclear cells was investigated in an 18 hr assay; the most active natural-killer (NK) effectors were those cells not adhering to nylon-wool columns or rosetting with sheep red blood cells. Mononuclear cells cultured in the presence of African swine-fever virus maintained NK activity. Pigs infected with African swine-fever virus exhibited a suppressed NK activity, possibly due to the sensitivity of NK cells to increased temperatures. The possible role of NK cells in recovery from African swine fever is discussed."

Source:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1454312/ 

How to Test for African Swine Fever Virus

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/biosecurity/ag-biosec/anim-disease/asf.html

Laboratory Diagnosis

Because ASF can easily be confused with other important diseases of swine, obtaining samples for laboratory diagnosis is an important step in confirming the illness.

Samples of the following should be sent to the laboratory (they should be kept as cold as possible, without freezing, during transport):

• Blood in anticoagulant (heparin or ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid [EDTA])
• Spleen
• Tonsil
• Kidney
• Lymph nodes

The following tests are available to identify the ASF virus:

• Hemadsorption (HAD) test
• Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
• Pig inoculation (no longer recommended)

The following tests can be used to test for antibodies in recovering pigs about 8 to 21 days after infection:

• Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (preferred test for international trade)
• Indirect fluorescent antibody test (FAT)
• Immunoblotting test
• Counter-immunoelectrophoresis (immunoelectroosmophoresis)

For more information on any of these tests, see References: OIE: Manual of standards for diagnostic tests and vaccines.

John Beldekas's research on African Swine Fever Virus as a human infection

http://www.keephopealive.org/report10.html
Spin Magazine on John Beldekas

Florida Pig Farm Poses Riddle

"AIDS victims and pigs stricken with chronic African swine fever have common characteristics, Beldekas said, including fever, abnormally large lymph nodes, skin lesions, immune-related pneumonia, and a reduction of white blood cells. Both diseases can be spread through exposure to infected blood, blood products and semen, Beldekas said, but the animal virus can also be transmitted by infected ticks. Accordingly, they say, the animal virus may somehow be a factor in the transmission of AIDS, which could have spread from infected pigs to humans through tick bites, and then from human to human through sexual contact or direct infection of blood."
--By JON NORDHEIMER, SPECIAL TO THE NEW YORK TIMES