Comparison of African Swine Fever Virus Prevalence in Nigerian Indigenous Pig, Its Hybrid and Backcross in an Environment Prone to African Swine Fever

Abstract

This work investigated on the presence of African swine fever virus (ASFV) in Nigerian Indigenous pig (NIP), its hybrid and backcross using Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) screening method on the extracted DNA and haematological screening from these pig bloods. Pig populations selected from Southwestern Nigeria were used for this study. ASFV infected blood samples collected from the University of Ibadan were used as positive control. White blood cell count was significantly highest in hybrid (31.27 ± 1.79 × 10 3 /µl) and higher in backcross (27.71 ± 2.01 × 10 3 /µl) compared with NIP (18.16 ± 3.01 × 10 3 /µl) for NIP, and while Lymphocyte count was found to be highest in hybrid (86.17% ± 1.95%) and lowest in backcross (56.23% ± 1.17%). The PAS primers (PAS1F: 5'-ATG GAT ACC GAG GGA ATA GC-3' and PAS2R: 5'-CTT ACC GAT GAA AAT GAT AC-3') amplified the 278 bp of ASFV in the DNA extracted from NIP, its hybrids and backcross. In conclusion, this study has shown that NIP, its hybrid and backcross have ASFV in their genome in an ASF-prone environment and thus confirming the continuous prevalence of ASF in Southwest Nigeria. This is an ongoing research where the severity and virulence of the virus has to be measured.