title: Transmission routes of African swine fever virus to domestic pigs: current knowledge and future research directions.
abstract: African swine fever (ASF) is a major threat to the pig industry in Europe. Since 2007, ASF outbreaks have been ongoing in the Caucasus, Eastern Europe and the Baltic countries, causing severe economic losses for many pig farmers and pork producers. In addition, the number of ASF cases in wild boar populations has dramatically increased over the past few years. Evidence supports direct contact with infectious domestic pigs and wild boars, and consumption of contaminated feed, as the main transmission routes of ASF virus (ASFV) to domestic pigs. However, significant knowledge gaps highlight the urgent need for research to investigate the dynamics of indirect transmission via the environment, the minimal infective doses for contaminated feed ingestion, the probability of effective contacts between infectious wild boars and domestic pigs, the potential for recovered animals to become carriers and a reservoir for transmission, the potential virus persistence within wild boar populations and the influence of human behaviour for the spread of ASFV. This will provide an improved scientific basis to optimise current interventions and develop new tools and strategies to reduce the risk of ASFV transmission to domestic pigs.
authors.affiliation: Royal Veterinary College, Veterinary Epidemiology, Economics and Public Health Group, Hawkshead Lane, Hatfield, Hertfordshire AL9 7TA, UK.
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Guinat
authors.affiliation: European Food Safety Authority, Via Carlo Magno 1A, 43126 Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gogin
authors.affiliation: Friedrich-Loeffler Institut, Sudufer 10, 17493 Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Blome
authors.affiliation: Friedrich-Loeffler Institut, Sudufer 10, 17493 Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany.
authors.forename: Guenther
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Keil
authors.affiliation: Friedrich-Loeffler Institut, Sudufer 10, 17493 Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany.
authors.forename: Reiko
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pollin
authors.affiliation: Royal Veterinary College, Veterinary Epidemiology, Economics and Public Health Group, Hawkshead Lane, Hatfield, Hertfordshire AL9 7TA, UK.
authors.forename: Dirk U
authors.initials: DU
authors.lastname: Pfeiffer
authors.affiliation: The Pirbright Institute, Ash Road, Pirbright, Surrey GU24 0NF, UK.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dixon
mesh_terms: D000357:African Swine Fever / Q000635:transmission*; D000358:African Swine Fever Virus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D000818:Animals; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000639:trends; D005544:Forecasting; D019359:Knowledge; D034421:Sus scrofa / Q000821:virology*; D013552:Swine