Reviewing the Potential Vectors and Hosts
of African Swine Fever Virus Transmission
in the United States
-
1
USDA APHIS Veterinary Services, United States
-
2
Texas A&M University, United States
-
3
Colorado State University, United States
Strategies to mitigate the establishment of African swine fever virus (ASFV) in the United States (U.S.) are contingent on identifying which arthropod vectors and vertebrate hosts are capable of contributing to viral transmission and knowledge of vector-host interactions that may propagate viral amplification. Published vector competence data, host competence data and data documenting tick–host associations were systematically reviewed and synthesized to identify domestic and wild animals that may support the invasion of ASFV in the U.S. Published studies demonstrate that domestic pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus), feral hogs (Sus scrofa), and common warthogs (Phacochoerus africanus) are competent vertebrate hosts that currently occur in the U.S. Estimates of vector competence, rates of tick–host contact, and vector abundance were used to semiquantitatively rank which U.S. soft tick species demonstrate the highest risk for contributing to ASFV transmission. Results indicate O. coriaceus, O. turicata, and O. puertoricensis demonstrate the highest relative risk for contributing to ASFV transmission in the U.S., however, many gaps in knowledge exist preventing the full evaluation of at least 30 soft tick species in the U.S. Vector and host species implicated in this analysis are intended to inform ASFV risk assessments in the U.S. and guide surveillance and control strategies. Further study is required to identify soft tick vectors that interact with feral swine populations, implicate competent vectors, and advance our understanding of soft tick biology.
Keywords:
Argasidae,
vector competence,
Host competence,
Swine,
African Swine Fever Virus
Conference:
GeoVet 2019. Novel spatio-temporal approaches in the era of Big Data, Davis, United States, 8 Oct - 10 Oct, 2019.
Presentation Type:
Regular oral presentation
Topic:
Special topic on African Swine Fever (ASF)
Citation:
Golnar
AJ,
Martin
E,
Wormington
J,
Kading
R,
Teel
P,
Hamer
S and
Hamer
G
(2019). Reviewing the Potential Vectors and Hosts
of African Swine Fever Virus Transmission
in the United States.
Front. Vet. Sci.
Conference Abstract:
GeoVet 2019. Novel spatio-temporal approaches in the era of Big Data.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fvets.2019.05.00107
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Received:
21 Jun 2019;
Published Online:
27 Sep 2019.
*
Correspondence:
Dr. Andrew J Golnar, USDA APHIS Veterinary Services, Ames, United States, andrew.golnar@gmail.com