Detection of African swine fever virus in pigs in Southwest Nigeria

Vet World Vol.14 July-2021 Article-17

Research Article

Veterinary World, 14(7): 1840-1845

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2021.1840-1845

Emmanuel Jolaoluwa Awosanya¹, Babasola Oluseyi Olugasa¹, Fufa Ido Gimba², Mohd Yusoff Sabri², and Gabriel Adetunji Ogundipe¹

1. Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
2. Department of Veterinary Pathology and Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

Background and Aim: Nigeria experienced repeated outbreaks of African swine fever (ASF) in pig herds between 1997 and 2005 in the southwest region of the country. ASF is believed to currently be enzootic in this region. The status of enzootic transmission of ASF virus strain to pigs is; however, unknown. Twenty-three genotypes of the ASF virus based on the p72 gene are found across Africa. This study aimed to identify the current circulating field strain(s) of the ASF virus in Southwest Nigeria and characterized evolutionary trends.

Materials and Methods: DNA samples were extracted from 144 pooled blood samples obtained from 2012 to 2013 following the manufacturer's instructions. DNA was used for conventional polymerase chain reaction using primers targeting the p72 gene and amplified products sequenced with Sanger's sequencing. Sequences were analyzed for homology and phylogenetic relationships.

Results: Eleven of 144 samples (7.6%) showed bands at 950 bp. A new field strain of ASF virus of genotype I that shared ancestry with ASF virus strains or isolates from Spain and Brazil was identified among pig herds. The new strain differs phylogenetically in amino acid composition compared with previously identified ASF virus field strains.

Conclusion: The currently circulating field strain of ASF virus suggests a mutation responsible for decreased morbidity and mortality recorded in sporadic cases. Keywords: African swine fever virus, enzootic, evolution, phylogeny, sequencing, Southwest Nigeria.

Keywords: African swine fever virus, enzootic, evolution, phylogeny, sequencing, Southwest Nigeria.

How to cite this article: Awosanya EJ, Olugasa BO, Gimba FI, Sabri MY, Ogundipe GA (2021) Detection of African swine fever virus in pigs in Southwest Nigeria, Veterinary World, 14(7): 1840-1845.

Received: 17-02-2021 Accepted: 08-06-2021 Published online: 19-07-2021

Corresponding author: Emmanuel Jolaoluwa Awosanya E-mail: emmafisayo@yahoo.com

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2021.1840-1845

Copyright: Awosanya, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.