title: Genetic Assessment of African Swine Fever Isolates Involved in Outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo between 2005 and 2012 Reveals Co-Circulation of p72 Genotypes I, IX and XIV, Including 19 Variants.
abstract: African swine fever (ASF) is a devastating disease of domestic pigs. It is a socioeconomically important disease, initially described from Kenya, but subsequently reported in most Sub-Saharan countries. ASF spread to Europe, South America and the Caribbean through multiple introductions which were initially eradicated-except for Sardinia-followed by re‑introduction into Europe in 2007. In this study of ASF within the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 62 domestic pig samples, collected between 2005-2012, were examined for viral DNA and sequencing at multiple loci: C-terminus of theB646Lgene (p72 protein), central hypervariable region (CVR) of theB602Lgene, and theE183Lgene (p54 protein). Phylogenetic analyses identified three circulating genotypes: I (64.5% of samples), IX (32.3%), and XIV (3.2%). This is the first evidence of genotypes IX and XIV within this country. Examination of the CVR revealed high levels of intra-genotypic variation, with 19 identified variants.
authors.affiliation: Central Veterinary Laboratory, Avenue Wangata, P.O. Box 8842, Kinshasa I, Democratic Republic of Congo. labovetkin@yahoo.fr.|Research Unit of Epidemiology and Risk Analysis Applied to Veterinary (UREAR-Ulg), Fundamental and Applied Research for Animals & Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liege, 4000 Liege, Belgium. labovetkin@yahoo.fr.
authors.forename: Leopold K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Mulumba-Mfumu
authors.affiliation: Animal Production and Health Laboratory, International Atomic Energy Agency, Wagramer Strasse 5, P.O. Box 100, A-1400 Vienna, Austria. achenbach@battelle.org.
authors.forename: Jenna E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Achenbach
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA. MMauldin@cdc.gov.|Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) CDC Fellowship Program, Oak Ridge, TN 37830, USA. MMauldin@cdc.gov.
authors.forename: Matthew R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Mauldin
authors.affiliation: Pirbright Institute, Ash Road, Pirbright, Woking, Surrey GU24 ONF, UK. linda.dixon@pirbright.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Linda K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Dixon
authors.affiliation: Central Veterinary Laboratory, Avenue Wangata, P.O. Box 8842, Kinshasa I, Democratic Republic of Congo. george.tshilenge@sacids.org.
authors.forename: Curé Georges
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Tshilenge
authors.affiliation: Research Unit of Epidemiology and Risk Analysis Applied to Veterinary (UREAR-Ulg), Fundamental and Applied Research for Animals & Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liege, 4000 Liege, Belgium. etienne.thiry@ulg.ac.be.
authors.forename: Etienne
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Thiry
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigaciόn en Sanidad Animal (CISA), INIA, Valdeolmos, 28130 Madrid, Spain. moreno.noelia@inia.es.
authors.forename: Noelia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Moreno
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigaciόn en Sanidad Animal (CISA), INIA, Valdeolmos, 28130 Madrid, Spain. blanco@inia.es.
authors.forename: Esther
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Blanco
authors.affiliation: Research Unit of Epidemiology and Risk Analysis Applied to Veterinary (UREAR-Ulg), Fundamental and Applied Research for Animals & Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liege, 4000 Liege, Belgium. claude.saegerman@ulg.ac.be.
authors.forename: Claude
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Saegerman
authors.affiliation: Animal Production and Health Laboratory, International Atomic Energy Agency, Wagramer Strasse 5, P.O. Box 100, A-1400 Vienna, Austria. c.lamien@iaea.org.
authors.forename: Charles E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Lamien
authors.affiliation: Animal Production and Health Laboratory, International Atomic Energy Agency, Wagramer Strasse 5, P.O. Box 100, A-1400 Vienna, Austria. adama.diallo@cirad.fr.
authors.forename: Adama
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Diallo
mesh_terms: D000357:African Swine Fever / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D000818:Animals; D025701:Asfarviridae / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D015023:Democratic Republic of the Congo / Q000453:epidemiology; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005838:Genotype; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D034421:Sus scrofa; D013552:Swine
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral
keywords: African swine fever virus; CVR; Democratic Republic of Congo; genotypes; molecular epidemiology; outbreaks; p54 gene; p72 gene; swine