| Abstract [eng] |
African swine fever is an infectious viral disease of domestic pigs and wild boars. Currently, there is no ASFV vaccine, and methods to control the disease depend on early detection of the virus, rapid laboratory diagnosis and strict sanitary measures. The discovery and identification of new potential mechanical vectors is particularly important as it will allow to understand virus transmission pathways better, to control spread of the disease and it is likely to lead to the development of vaccines against African swine fever virus. In this study we evaluated the role of insects in ASFV transmission. We applied an efficient method to isolate and to identify viral DNA in insects. Comparison of the virus prevalence in different insect species demonstrated, that Stomoxys calcitrans may be one of the mechanical vectors which transmit ASFV. We ascertained that our viral sequences belong to II genotype and differ the least from the III, VII, XX, XVIII, XXII genotypes, but have the most differences compared to the X genotype, comparing the arrangement of nucleotides in sequences. |
