Main description:

This specially curated collection features four reviews of current and key research on African swine fever (ASF).

The global spread of ASF has been unprecedented. Since 2005 ASF has spread to over 60 countries across Asia, Africa and Europe. Since it first appeared in China in 2018, it has halved the commercial pig population in that country. Controlling ASP has proved challenging due to its complex epidemiology, difficulties in early detection and the current lack of an effective vaccine. This guide synthesises and reviews the research on key aspects of understanding, tracking and preventing this devastating disease.

Contents:

Chapter 1 - Advances in understanding the characteristics and epidemiology of African swine fever: Youming Wang, China Animal Health and Epidemiology Centre (CAHEC), China; 1 Etiology2 Distribution3 Clinical signs and postmortem findings4 Disease transmission5 Transmission dynamics6 References
Chapter 2 - Advances in surveillance and diagnostic techniques for tracking the spread of African swine: Sandra Blome, Friedrich Loeffler Institute, Germany

Chapter 3 - Risk-based measures for prevention and control of African swine fever (ASF) in pigs: Silvia Bellini, IZSLER, Italy; 1 Introduction2 Surveillance measures3 Biosecurity measures4 Cleaning and disinfection measures5 Conclusion6 Where to look for further information7 References
Chapter 4 - Advances in finding a vaccine for African swine fever: Douglas Gladue and Manuel V. Borca, USDA-ARS, USA; 1 ASFV proteins inducing protective immunity and the development of subunit vaccines2 Live attenuated Vaccines- Attenuated field isolates3 Live attenuated Vaccines -Adaptation to cell culture to decrease virulence4 Live attenuated Vaccines- Initial identification of genetic determinants of virulence in ASFV5 Case Study: Development of a ASFV Vaccine to the new emerging strain ASFV Georgia6 Other advances in ASFV discovery of determinants of virulence7 Summary8 Future trends in research9 Where to look for further information10 References