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Source: https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/n...variants-of-african-swine-fever-virus-556461/
New Chinese study finds milder variants of African swine fever virus
Reuters
Published: 3 hours ago
BEIJING (Reuters) - New variants of the African swine fever virus circulating in China appear to cause a milder form of the disease, making it less deadly but harder to detect and to get under control, a study published this week showed.
The paper by a team at the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Sciences is the second this month to report on natural mutations in the virus which ravaged China's pig herd during 2018 and 2019 and continues to kill pigs in the world's biggest pork producer.
The first study from the Military Veterinary Institute in Changchun reported finding a virus that had a partial deletion of genes, previously shown to protect pigs against the African swine fever (ASF) when deleted. However that study did not investigate the virulence of the variant.
It comes amid growing concerns in the industry over the evolution of a disease with no approved vaccine.
"The emergence of lower virulent natural mutants brings greater difficulty to early detection and poses new challenges for the control of ASF," write Sun Encheng and colleagues in the Life Sciences journal.
They noted the mutants cause a "much more delayed course, and mild, chronic signs, while being continuously shed via the oral and rectal routes"...
New Chinese study finds milder variants of African swine fever virus
Reuters
Published: 3 hours ago
BEIJING (Reuters) - New variants of the African swine fever virus circulating in China appear to cause a milder form of the disease, making it less deadly but harder to detect and to get under control, a study published this week showed.
The paper by a team at the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Sciences is the second this month to report on natural mutations in the virus which ravaged China's pig herd during 2018 and 2019 and continues to kill pigs in the world's biggest pork producer.
The first study from the Military Veterinary Institute in Changchun reported finding a virus that had a partial deletion of genes, previously shown to protect pigs against the African swine fever (ASF) when deleted. However that study did not investigate the virulence of the variant.
It comes amid growing concerns in the industry over the evolution of a disease with no approved vaccine.
"The emergence of lower virulent natural mutants brings greater difficulty to early detection and poses new challenges for the control of ASF," write Sun Encheng and colleagues in the Life Sciences journal.
They noted the mutants cause a "much more delayed course, and mild, chronic signs, while being continuously shed via the oral and rectal routes"...