African Swine Fever: Transmission, Spread, and Control through Biosecurity and Disinfection, including Polish Trends

Abstract

African swine fever is a contagious disease, affecting pigs and wild boars, which poses amajor threat to the pig industry worldwide and, therefore, to the agricultural economies of manycountries. Despite intensive studies, an effective vaccine against the disease has not yet been developed. Since 2007, ASFV has been circulating in Eastern and Central Europe, covering an increasinglylarge area. As of 2018, the disease is additionally spreading at an unprecedented scale in SoutheastAsia, nearly ruining China’s pig-producing sector and generating economic losses of approximatelyUSD 111.2 billion in 2019. ASFV’s high resistance to environmental conditions, together with the lackof an approved vaccine, plays a key role in the spread of the disease. Therefore, the biosecurity anddisinfection of pig farms are the only effective tools through which to prevent ASFV from enteringthe farms. The selection of a disinfectant, with research-proven efficacy and proper use, taking intoaccount environmental conditions, exposure time, pH range, and temperature, plays a crucial rolein the disinfection process. Despite the significant importance of ASF epizootics, little informationis available on the effectiveness of different disinfectants against ASFV. In this review, we havecompiled the current knowledge on the transmission, spread, and control of ASF using the principlesof biosecurity, with particular attention to disinfection, including a perspective based on Polishexperience with ASF control