Arthropods as potential vectors of African swine fever virus outbreaks
on pig farms in the Republic of Korea
Abstract
The seasonality of African swine fever (ASF), with cases concentrated
over the summer in Europe, in addition to outbreaks on farms with high
levels of biosecurity, suggest that ASF virus (ASFV) may be transmitted
by arthropod vectors. In this study, arthropods were collected from
Korean pig farms with ASF outbreaks to determine the role of arthropods
as a potential vector of ASFV. Arthropods were collected from 14 farms
with ASF outbreaks, from September 27 to October 31, 2019. A total of
28,729 arthropods, including 28,508 (99.2%) Diptera, were collected
using blacklight traps, insect nets, and yellow sticky strips. All
arthropods samples were negative for ASFV genomic DNA according to
laboratory tests using real-time polymerase chain reaction.
Nevertheless, it is premature to conclude that arthropods do not play
any role in ASFV transmission.