Elucidating the Onset of Cross-Protective Immunity after Intranasal Vaccination with the Attenuated African Swine Fever Vaccine Candidate BA71ΔCD2.

African swine fever (ASF) is a deadly disease of swine currently causing a worldwide pandemic, leading to severe economic consequences for the porcine industry. The control of disease spread is hampered by the limitation of available effective vaccines. Live attenuated vaccines (LAVs) are currently the most advanced vaccine prototypes, providing strong protection against ASF.

Uptake and Survival of African Swine Fever Virus in Mealworm () and Black Soldier Fly ( Larvae.

Insect production offers a sustainable source of nutrients for livestock. This comes with a risk for transmission of pathogens from the insects into the livestock sector, including viruses causing serious diseases, such as African swine fever virus (ASFV), classical swine fever virus and foot-and-mouth disease virus. ASFV is known to survive for a long time within animal meat and byproducts.

Cross-protection against African swine fever virus upon intranasal vaccination is associated with an adaptive-innate immune crosstalk.

African swine fever virus (ASFV) is causing a worldwide pandemic affecting the porcine industry and leading to important global economic consequences. The virus causes a highly lethal hemorrhagic disease in wild boars and domestic pigs. Lack of effective vaccines hampers the control of virus spread, thus increasing the pressure on the scientific community for urgent solutions.

DNA Vaccines in Pigs: From Immunization to Antigen Identification.

DNA vaccination is one of the most fascinating vaccine strategies currently in development. Two of the main advantages of DNA immunization rely on its simplicity and flexibility, being ideal to dissect both the immune mechanisms and the antigens involved in protection against a given pathogen. Here we describe several strategies used to enhance the immune responses induced and the protection afforded by experimental DNA vaccines tested in swine and provide very basic protocols describing the generation and in vivo application of a prototypic DNA vaccine.

Identification of African Swine Fever Virus Transcription within Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells of Acutely Infected Pigs.

African swine fever virus (ASFV) has become widespread in Europe, Asia and elsewhere, thereby causing extensive economic losses. The viral genome includes nearly 200 genes, but their expression within infected pigs has not been well characterized previously. In this study, four pigs were infected with a genotype II strain (ASFV POL/2015/Podlaskie); blood samples were collected before inoculation and at both 3 and 6 days later.

Deletion Mutants of the Attenuated Recombinant ASF Virus, BA71ΔCD2, Show Decreased Vaccine Efficacy.

African swine fever (ASF) has become the major threat to the global swine industry. Lack of available commercial vaccines complicates the implementation of global control strategies. So far, only live attenuated ASF viruses (ASFV) have demonstrated solid protection efficacy at the experimental level.

M448R and MGF505-7R: Two African Swine Fever Virus Antigens Commonly Recognized by ASFV-Specific T-Cells and with Protective Potential.

African swine fever (ASF) is today's number one threat for the global swine industry. Neither commercial vaccine nor treatment is available against ASF and, thus far, only live attenuated viruses (LAV) have provided robust protection against lethal ASF virus (ASFV) challenge infections. Identification of ASFV proteins inducing protective immune responses is one of the major challenges to develop safer and efficient subunit vaccines.

Identification of Promiscuous African Swine Fever Virus T-Cell Determinants Using a Multiple Technical Approach.

The development of subunit vaccines against African swine fever (ASF) is mainly hindered by the lack of knowledge regarding the specific ASF virus (ASFV) antigens involved in protection. As a good example, the identity of ASFV-specific CD8 T-cell determinants remains largely unknown, despite their protective role being established a long time ago. Aiming to identify them, we implemented the IFNγ ELISpot as readout assay, using as effector cells peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from pigs surviving experimental challenge with Georgia2007/1.

Live Attenuated African Swine Fever Viruses as Ideal Tools to Dissect the Mechanisms Involved in Cross-Protection.

African swine fever (ASF) has become the major threat for the global swine industry. Furthermore, the epidemiological situation of African swine fever virus (ASFV) in some endemic regions of Sub-Saharan Africa is worse than ever, with multiple virus strains and genotypes currently circulating in a given area. Despite the recent advances on ASF vaccine development, there are no commercial vaccines yet, and most of the promising vaccine prototypes available today have been specifically designed to fight the genotype II strains currently circulating in Europe, Asia, and Oceania.

Fecal microbiota transplantation from warthog to pig confirms the influence of the gut microbiota on African swine fever susceptibility.

African swine fever virus (ASFV) is the causative agent of a devastating hemorrhagic disease (ASF) that affects both domestic pigs and wild boars. Conversely, ASFV circulates in a subclinical manner in African wild pigs, including warthogs, the natural reservoir for ASFV. Together with genetic differences, other factors might be involved in the differential susceptibility to ASF observed among Eurasian suids (Sus scrofa) and African warthogs (Phacochoerus africanus).

Differential expression of porcine microRNAs in African swine fever virus infected pigs: a proof-of-concept study.

Background: African swine fever (ASF) is a re-expanding devastating viral disease currently threatening the pig industry worldwide. MicroRNAs are a class of 17-25 nucleotide non- coding RNAs that have been shown to have critical functions in a wide variety of biological processes, such as cell differentiation, cell cycle regulation, carcinogenesis, apoptosis, regulation of immunity as well as in viral infections by cleavage or translational repression of mRNAs. Nevertheless, there is no information about miRNA expression in an ASFV infection.

BA71ΔCD2: a New Recombinant Live Attenuated African Swine Fever Virus with Cross-Protective Capabilities.

African swine fever is a highly contagious viral disease of mandatory declaration to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). The lack of available vaccines makes its control difficult; thus, African swine fever virus (ASFV) represents a major threat to the swine industry. Inactivated vaccines do not confer solid protection against ASFV.

Pre-Clinical Evaluation of a Real-Time PCR Assay on a Portable Instrument as a Possible Field Diagnostic Tool: Experiences from the Testing of Clinical Samples for African and Classical Swine Fever Viruses.

African swine fever (ASF) and classical swine fever (CSF) are two highly infectious transboundary animal diseases (TADs) that are serious threats to the pig industry worldwide, including in China, the world's largest pork producer. In this study, a duplex real-time PCR assay was developed for the rapid detection and differentiation of African swine fever virus (ASFV) and classical swine fever virus (CSFV). The assay was performed on a portable, battery-powered PCR thermocycler with a low sample throughput (termed as 'T-COR4 assay').

Live attenuated African swine fever viruses as ideal tools to dissect the mechanisms involved in viral pathogenesis and immune protection.

African swine fever virus (ASFV) is the causal agent of African swine fever, a hemorrhagic and often lethal porcine disease causing enormous economical losses in affected countries. Endemic for decades in most of the sub-Saharan countries and Sardinia, the risk of ASFV-endemicity in Europe has increased since its last introduction into Europe in 2007. Live attenuated viruses have been demonstrated to induce very efficient protective immune responses, albeit most of the time protection was circumscribed to homologous ASFV challenges.

DNA Vaccines: Experiences in the Swine Model.

DNA vaccination is one of the most fascinating vaccine-strategies currently in development. Two of the main advantages of DNA immunization rely on its simplicity and flexibility, being ideal to dissect both the immune mechanisms and the antigens involved in protection against a given pathogen. Here, we describe several strategies used to enhance the immune responses induced and the protection afforded by experimental DNA vaccines tested in swine and provide with very basic protocol describing the generation and in vivo application of a prototypic DNA vaccine.

Expression library immunization can confer protection against lethal challenge with African swine fever virus.

Unlabelled: African swine fever is one of the most devastating pig diseases, against which there is no vaccine available. Recent work from our laboratory has demonstrated the protective potential of DNA vaccines encoding three African swine fever viral antigens (p54, p30, and the hemagglutinin extracellular domain) fused to ubiquitin. Partial protection was afforded in the absence of detectable antibodies prior to virus challenge, and survival correlated with the presence of a large number of hemagglutinin-specific CD8(+) T cells in blood.

DNA vaccination partially protects against African swine fever virus lethal challenge in the absence of antibodies.

The lack of available vaccines against African swine fever virus (ASFV) means that the evaluation of new immunization strategies is required. Here we show that fusion of the extracellular domain of the ASFV Hemagglutinin (sHA) to p54 and p30, two immunodominant structural viral antigens, exponentially improved both the humoral and the cellular responses induced in pigs after DNA immunization. However, immunization with the resulting plasmid (pCMV-sHAPQ) did not confer protection against lethal challenge with the virulent E75 ASFV-strain.

Enhancing DNA immunization by targeting ASFV antigens to SLA-II bearing cells.

One of the main criticisms to DNA vaccines is the poor immunogenicity that they confer on occasions, at least in large animals. Confirming this theory, immunization with plasmid DNA encoding two African swine fever virus genes in frame (pCMV-PQ), failed in inducing detectable immune responses in pigs, while it was successful in mice. Aiming to improve the immune responses induced in swine, a new plasmid was constructed, encoding the viral genes fused in frame with a single chain variable fragment of an antibody specific for a swine leukocyte antigen II (pCMV-APCH1PQ).

Ingestion of deoxynivalenol (DON) contaminated feed alters the pig vaccinal immune responses.

Deoxynivalenol (DON), a mycotoxin produced by some Fusarium species, is a frequent contaminant of cereals. This toxin is known to modulate the immune function but only few studies have investigated the effect of DON on the vaccinal immune response. In the present experiment, 24 pigs received for 9 weeks either control feed or feed naturally contaminated with 2.

Ingestion of low doses of deoxynivalenol does not affect hematological, biochemical, or immune responses of piglets.

Deoxynivalenol (DON), a mycotoxin produced by Fusarium spp., is a frequent contaminant of cereals. Because of their rich cereal diet, pigs could be exposed to this mycotoxin.

Immunotoxicological risk of mycotoxins for domestic animals.

Mycotoxins are a group of structurally diverse fungal secondary metabolites that elicit a wide spectrum of toxicological effects. Of particular interest is the capacity of some mycotoxins to alter normal immune function when present in food at levels below observable overt toxicity. The sensitivity of the immune system to mycotoxin-induced immunosuppression arises from the vulnerability of the continually proliferating and differentiating cells that participate in immune-mediated activities and regulate the complex communication network between cellular and humoral components.

[Mycotoxin producing fungi].

Mycotoxins are relatively small molecules characterized by a diversity of chemical structure and a diversity of biological activity. They are often genotypically specific for a group of species, but the same compound can also be formed by fungi belonging to different genera. Most of the mycotoxins known have been recognized as metabolic products of Aspergillus, Penicillium and Fusarium species.

Taxonomy and significance of black aspergilli.

Members of Aspergillus section Nigri (formerly A. niger group) are distributed worldwide and are regarded as common food spoilage fungi. Some of them are widely used and studied for industrial purposes.

Aspergillus carbonarius as the main source of ochratoxin A contamination in dried vine fruits from the Spanish market.

Ochratoxin A (OTA) can occur in a wide range of foods, but unexpectedly high concentrations have been detected in dried vine fruits of various origins. The European Union has recently established a maximum OTA limit of 10 microg/kg for these foodstuffs. In order to determine the likely origin of OTA, a mycological study of 50 dried fruit samples (currants, raisins, and sultanas) representative of the Spanish market was conducted.