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Review
. 2019 Jan 9:5:6.
doi: 10.1186/s40813-018-0109-2. eCollection 2019.

Epidemiological considerations on African swine fever in Europe 2014-2018

Erika Chenais #  1 , Klaus Depner #  2 , Vittorio Guberti  3 , Klaas Dietze  2 , Arvo Viltrop  4 , Karl Ståhl  1
Affiliations
Review

Epidemiological considerations on African swine fever in Europe 2014-2018

Erika Chenais et al. Porcine Health Manag. .

Abstract

In 2007 African swine fever (ASF) arrived at a Black Sea harbour in Georgia and in 2014 the infection reached the European Union (EU), where it still expands its territory. ASF is a fatal viral disease affecting domestic pigs and wild boar of all ages with clinical presentations ranging from per-acute to chronic disease, including apparently asymptomatic courses. Until the detection of the first case inside the EU, infections in the current epidemic were mainly seen among pig farms with generally low biosecurity, and with incidental spill over to the wild boar population. In the EU, however, the infection survived locally in the wild boar population independently from outbreaks in domestic pigs, with a steady and low prevalence. Apart from the wild boar population and the habitat, the current epidemic recognizes humans as the main responsible for both long distance transmission and virus introduction in the domestic pig farms. This underlines the importance to include social science when planning ASF-prevention, -control, or -eradication measures. Based on experiences, knowledge and data gained from the current epidemic this review highlights some recent developments in the epidemiological understanding of ASF, especially concerning the role of wild boar and their habitats in ASF epidemiology. In this regard, the qualities of three epidemiological traits: contagiousity, tenacity, and case fatality rate, and their impact on ASF persistence and transmission are especially discussed.

Keywords: ASF transmission; Biosecurity; Contagiousity; Pig; Wild boar.

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Conflict of interest statement

Not applicable.Not applicable.The authors declare that they have no competing interests.Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Notifications of cases in wild boar and outbreaks in domestic pigs in the European Union. Data extracted from the Animal Disease Notification System from January 2017 until September 2018
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The four transmission cycles of ASF with the main transmission agents depicted. The role of the bushpig in the sylvatic cycle remains unclear. Illustration: Magdalena Hellström, photographs by Erika Chenais, Klaus Depner and Karl Ståhl. The figure was originally published in Emerg Infect Dis 24, 810
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Number of notifications of cases in wild boar and outbreaks in domestic pigs in the European Union from 1st January 2014 until 25th September 2018. Data extracted from the Animal Disease Notification System. Blue bars are cases in wild boar and red bars are outbreaks in domestic pigs
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Number of notifications of cases in wild boar and outbreaks in domestic pigs in the European Union from 1st January 2014 until 25th September 2018, aggregated per month. Data extracted from the Animal Disease Notification System. Blue bars are cases in wild boar and red bars are outbreaks in domestic pigs
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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