African swine fever from Kenya to five continents: the role of wild boar

Abstract

African swine fever (ASF) is currently the largest threat to world pork production. The complexity of the virus, its persistence in the environment, the particular immune response it elicits without significant neutralising antibodies, its capacity for transmission by several routes and the presentation of different clinical forms, from acute with high mortality to attenuated to chronic, all pose significant challenges. This article provides an overview of the epidemiological situation of ASF across five continents, the role of wild boar in virus transmission, the development of new immunological tools that aim to enhance protection against this complicated virus in wild boar, and the protection studies that are under way.