The Persistence of African Swine Fever Virus in Field-Infected Ornithodoros erraticus during the ASF Endemic Period in Portugal
The Persistence of African Swine Fever Virus in Field-Infected Ornithodoros erraticus during the ASF Endemic Period in Portugal
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DOI：
10.1371/journal.pone.0020383
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发表时间：
2011-05-31
期刊：
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
Dixon, Linda J.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Boinas, Fernando S.;Wilson, Anthony J.;Dixon, Linda J.
非洲猪瘟（ASF）是猪的一种重要疾病，在欧洲多次发生非洲猪瘟疫情。为了探索欧洲软蜱种Ornithodoros erraticus（阿卡螨：松毛虫科）在被感染的宿主被移除后能够作为非洲猪瘟病毒（ASFV）储存库的时间，我们在葡萄牙阿连特约省和阿尔加维省的农场收集了流行期间的标本，并随后使用细胞培养和实验感染对其进行了测试。我们表明，从以前被感染的农场蜱可能含有感染性病毒至少5年零3个月后移除感染性宿主。此外，在两起病例中，在重新放养的尚未再次出现疾病的农场中，成功地从蜱虫中分离出传染性病毒。在疫情爆发后380天内进行的批次测试中证实了猪的实验性传播。这些结果阐明了不稳定O. errattics蜱在非洲猪瘟现场持续存在中的流行病学作用，提供了额外的证据，支持其在1999年葡萄牙非洲猪瘟再次出现的零星暴发中所起的作用，并建议当前的检疫立法和在猪场场所出现这些蜱时补充库存的建议是适当的。
African swine fever (ASF) is an important disease of pigs and outbreaks of ASF have occurred in Europe on multiple occasions. To explore the period for which the European soft tick species Ornithodoros erraticus (Acari: Argasidae) is able to act as a reservoir of African swine fever virus (ASFV) after infected hosts are removed, we collected specimens from farms in the provinces of Alentejo and Algarve in Portugal during the endemic period and tested them subsequently using cell culture and experimental infection. We show that ticks from previously infected farms may contain infectious virus for at least five years and three months after the removal of infectious hosts. Furthermore, in two cases infectious virus was successfully isolated from ticks on restocked farms that had not yet suffered a re-emergence of disease. Experimental transmission to pigs was demonstrated in batches tested up to 380 days after an outbreak. These results clarify the epidemiological role of O. erraticus ticks in the persistence of ASFV in the field, provide additional evidence to support its role in the re-emergence of a sporadic outbreak of ASF in Portugal in 1999 and suggest that the current quarantine legislation and restocking advice when these ticks are present on the pig farm premises is appropriate.