Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
The course of African swine fever in Romanian backyard holdings - A case report.
- Journal:
- Veterinary medicine and science
- Year:
- 2021
- Authors:
- Ardelean, Felix et al.
- Affiliation:
- County Sanitary Veterinary Health and Food Safety Directorate Satu Mare
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
In July 2017, African swine fever (ASF), a serious viral disease affecting pigs, was first found in a small pig farm in Satu-Mare County, Romania. Since then, there have been over 3,800 outbreaks across the country. A study looked at 56 of these affected farms and found that the disease was usually detected within the first two weeks after the virus entered the farm, with pigs showing symptoms for about 2 to 8 days before either dying or before control measures were put in place. The virus spread moderately between pigs on the same farm, and there were four groups of outbreaks that suggested the virus was being passed from one farm to another. To stop the spread, it’s important to quickly isolate affected farms and enforce strict safety measures, but this has been challenging in backyard settings.
Abstract
African swine fever (ASF) was diagnosed for the first time in Romania in a backyard holding in Satu-Mare County in July 2017. Since then, more than 3800 outbreaks occurred in the entire country. Disease control strategies in the backyard sector rely almost exclusively on reactive measures implemented upon appearance of clinical signs and laboratory confirmation of ASF. In our descriptive study, infection course and outbreak investigation data of 56 affected backyard holdings in Satu-Mare County has been investigated. Early disease detection based on clinical signs appeared to be efficient. In the majority of outbreaks, ASF was detected within the first 2 weeks after the estimated virus introduction. A clinical phase of 2-8 days was observed before pigs either succumbed to the disease or control measures were implemented on affected farms. A moderate on-farm transmissibility of ASF virus between pigs was observed. Four clusters of outbreaks were identified indicating virus perpetuation and transmission from farm to farm. To suspend infection chains, rapid intervention by isolating affected farms combined with effective biosecurity measures is required. However, due to the backyard peculiarities, quick and effective implementation of control measures has shown to be rather difficult.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34378334/