Polymerase Chain Reaction Detection of ASFV Infection in Nigerian Indigenous Pig

Abstract

This work investigated the presence of African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV) in Nigerian Indigenous Pig (NIP) using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) screening method on the extracted DNA from the pig blood. NIP population selected from south western Nigeria were used for this study. ASFV infected blood samples collected from the University of Ibadan were used as positive control. Adiscrete and specific band was observed in both NIP and the infected samples show the presence of ASFV in NIP. The bands were of the expected size 278 base pairs (bp). The implication of this finding is that NIPs have domiciled ASFV without showing any clinical symptoms.

Diversity and emergence of new variants of African swine fever virus Genotype I circulating in domestic pigs in Nigeria (2016-2018)

“…Some of the NIPs that survived the ASF outbreak were still alive and identified by farmers during a field visit to Zing, Taraba State, for another research study in 2019. Previously, studies in Nigeria have observed tolerance of NIP to ASFV, sometimes with no clinical signs or reduced death rates during outbreaks (Oluwole & Omitogun, 2014). Studies in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mozambique, reported indigenous pigs in endemic areas infected with the ASFV remained asymptomatic (Patrick et al, 2020Penrinth et al,2004Patrick et al, 2020).…”

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

“…The transmission of the disease, as it now occurs in sub-Saharan Africa, is through the African soft tick (Ornithodoros moubata porcinus) and Warthogs or domestic pigs. The transmission through the warthog and soft ticks does not occur in West Africa, although ASF virus has been detected from Warthog in Nigeria of West Africa [9] and also in local pigs in Nigeria [10]. The presence of soft ticks is also confirmed in Warthogs [7].…”

“…Blood samples were collected from the jugular vein of pure NIP (20), crossbreds (10) and Backcross [14] into 5 ml sterile EDTA bottles and brought into the laboratory for haematological analyses and DNA extraction for Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR).…”

“…The 278 bp of ASFV observed in NIP can be corroborated with the findings of [9] and Luther et al (2008) [13], where the same virus band was observed in Bushpigs and Warthogs tested at National Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI), Jos. The presence of ASFV in NIP for long period without any clinical symptom or death was explained by Adeoye and Adebambo (2010) [14] and Oluwole and Omitogun (2013) [10] by the ability of the pigs to trap ASFV within their tissues by the activities of macrophages that eat up the pathogens and infected tissues so that other parts and their mast cells in the tissues are not affected. The Hybrid and backcross also showed the presence of ASFV.…”

Computational Molecular Analysis of the 5 Candidate Genes of Suidae Family Related to African Swine Fever Occurrence

“…It has been reported that some local breeds of domestic pigs in Africa are also resistant [8]. Oluwole and Omitogun [9] reported the presence of ASFV in Nigerian pigs while Adeoye and Adebambo [10] carried out an investigation on the ASF outbreak survivors in Nigeria, their offspring and F 2 showed reduced antibody levels against ASF from 100% to 18.79%. Palgrave et al [11] also reported the ability of the virus to survive in one species and killing other species in the same family where it is likely to be due to their genetic variations.…”