What is the main cause of African swine fever?

What is the main cause of African swine fever?

African swine fever (ASF) is a highly contagious haemorrhagic viral disease of domestic and wild pigs, which is responsible for serious economic and production losses. It is caused by a large DNA virus of the Asfarviridae family, which also infects ticks of the genus Ornithodoros.

How does African swine fever affect humans?

African Swine Fever (ASF) is a highly contagious viral disease of pigs. In its acute form the disease generally results in high mortality. ASF is a different disease to swine flu. The virus does not affect people and there is no impact on human health.

Is African swine fever virus airborne?

“African swine fever is transmitted through close contact. Unlike some of the diseases that we know that are aerosol and move great distances, this is close contact, nose-to-nose; bodily secretions can transmit it.

Where did African swine fever came from?

African Swine Fever primarily originated in sub-Saharan Africa. In recent years, however, there have been increasing reports of the disease in Eastern Europe. African Swine Fever is a viral disease to which only pigs and wild boar are susceptible.

Can a pig survive swine fever?

Although the virus in wild boar and hogs does not manifest any signs of the disease, it remains highly contagious across all swine species and can survive in pigs for long periods of time post-slaughter – even in frozen carcasses.

How many pigs have died from African swine fever?

According to official data, by mid-2019, 13,355 pigs had died due to the ASF virus infection, and 1,204,281 pigs had been culled to halt the virus’s spread.

What happens if you eat pork with African swine fever?

African swine fever has no impact on human health. Humans cannot catch ASF from infected pigs not can they contract the disease by eating meat from a pig infected with ASF.

Can human spread African swine fever?

African swine fever is a highly contagious and deadly viral disease affecting both domestic and feral (wild) pigs in all age groups. ASF is not a threat to human health and cannot be transmitted from pigs to humans.

How do pigs avoid swine fever?

Controlling an outbreak quickly and efficiently

1. Culling animals on infected farms, followed by cleaning and disinfection.
2. Tracing possible contact farms, followed by quarantine or preventive culling.
3. Tightening biosecurity measures.
4. Transport ban on pigs and pork products.

Is African swine fever curable?

African swine fever (ASF) is one of the most severe viral diseases of pigs. It affects pigs of all ages but cannot infect humans. Domestic pigs, feral pigs and European wild boar are equally susceptible to ASF. No cure or vaccine currently exists for this virus.

Can pigs get Ebola?

Pigs are not known to be naturally infected with or transmit the more dangerous Zaire Ebola virus species. Under laboratory conditions, pigs have been infected with extremely high doses of Zaire Ebola virus and were able to transmit the disease to other pigs.

How do pigs get swine fever?

ASF can be spread through ticks, live or dead pigs and pork products, contaminated feed and by humans. In fact, humans can carry the virus on their shoes or clothing, which means traveling from a country that has African swine fever to one that does not could lead to new outbreaks without proper biosecurity practices.