earticle

영어

The introduction of genotype II African swine fever (ASF) virus (ASFV) into the Korean peninsula in 2019. The outbreak of ASF in domestic pigs occurred on September 16, 2019, right after the autumn rainy season ended. Since then, 14 more cases have occurred, and there have been no additional cases until the last occurrence of Inje area, Gangwon-do. It resulted in unprecedented disease propagation via slow geographical expansion through wild boar populations, short- and long-distance human-mediated translocations, and incursions into naïve wild boar and domestic pig populations. The disease is now progressing slowly, mainly in the mountainous regions of Gangwon-do. The global dimension of the current epidemic shows that all countries need to be prepared for an introduction. In its natural habitat in Africa, ASFV is maintained within an ancient cycle between soft argasid ticks and the common warthog. Once introduced to the domestic pig population, direct and indirect virus transmission occurs with or without involvement of the tick vector in the pig-tick and domestic pig epidemiological cycles respectively. In the domestic pig cycle, human activities involving pigs or farming activities in areas where ASF positive wild boars have been found. ASF epidemiology in the presence of wild boar and northern European climates where it already occurred and still suffers from the disease has proved to have specific characteristics, described in the wild boar-habitat epidemiological cycle. In this cycle wild boar carcasses and the resulting contamination of the environment play key roles in virus persistence. However, in addition that this virus is highly resistant to the environment, the fact that topographical features of lots of mountainous areas Korea has, makes it more difficult to control. In both the wild boar-habitat and the domestic pig epidemiological cycle, fully implemented biosecurity is the key for stopping virus transmission and controlling the disease. Positive examples from the Czech Republic and Belgium show that control and eradication of ASF from the wild boar-habitat cycle can be achieved. Both these cases, as well as the example of Sardinia, where ASFV genotype I now seem very close to eradication after more than 40 years presence, further underline the importance of involving, engaging and understanding all stakeholders in the value chains from farm and forest to fork in order to accomplish ASF control and eradication.