Seroimmunotyping of African swine fever virus.

The extreme genetic and immunobiological heterogeneity exhibited by the African swine fever virus (ASFV) has been a significant impediment in the development of an efficacious vaccine against this disease. Consequently, the lack of internationally accepted protocols for the laboratory evaluation of candidate vaccines has become a major concern within the scientific community. The formulation of such protocols necessitates the establishment of a consensus at the international level on methods for the determination of homologous and heterologous isolates/strains of ASFV.

Subsequent Immunization of Pigs with African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV) Seroimmunotype IV Vaccine Strain FK-32/135 and by Recombinant Plasmid DNA Containing the CD2v Derived from MK-200 ASFV Seroimmunotype III Strain Does Not Protect from Challenge with ASFV Seroimmunotype III.

Understanding the immunological mechanisms of protection and the viral proteins involved in the induction of a protective immune response to the African swine fever virus (ASFV) is still limited. In the last years, the CD2v protein (gp110-140) of the ASFV has been proven to be a serotype-specific protein. Current work is devoted to the investigation of the possibility of creating protection against virulent ASFV strain Mozambique-78 (seroimmunotype III) in pigs previously vaccinated with vaccine strain FK-32/135 (seroimmunotype IV) and then immunized with the pUBB76A_CD2v plasmid, containing a chimeric nucleotide sequence from the CD2v protein gene (EP402R, nucleotides from 49 to 651) from the MK-200 strain (seroimmunotype III).

Inoculation with ASFV-Katanga-350 Partially Protects Pigs from Death during Subsequent Infection with Heterologous Type ASFV-Stavropol 01/08.

African swine fever virus (ASFV) is an extremely genetically and phenotypically heterogeneous pathogen. Previously, we have demonstrated that experimental inoculation of pigs with an attenuated strain, Katanga-350 (genotype I, seroimmunotype I) (ASFV-Katanga-350), can induce protective immunity in 80% of European domestic pigs against the homologous virulent European strain Lisbon-57. At least 50% of the surviving pigs received protection from subsequent intramuscular infection with a heterologous virulent strain, Stavropol 01/08 (genotype II, seroimmunotype VIII) (ASFV-Stavropol 01/08).

Immunobiological Characteristics of the Attenuated African Swine Fever Virus Strain Katanga-350.

The African swine fever virus (ASFV) is the cause of a recent pandemic that is threatening the global pig industry. The virus infects domestic and wild pigs and manifests with a variety of clinical symptoms, depending on the strain. No commercial vaccine is currently available to protect animals from this virus, but some attenuated and recombinant live vaccine candidates might be effective against the disease.

The attenuated ASFV strains MK-200 and FK-32/135 as possible models for investigation of protective immunity by ASFV infection.

African swine fever (ASF) is an infectious disease of domestic and wild pigs of all breeds and ages, with the acute form of the disease being characterized by high fever, hemorrhages in the reticuloendothelial system and a high mortality rate. Registered safe and efficacious ASF vaccines are not available. The development of experimental ASF vaccines, particularly live attenuated, have considerably intensified in the last years.

Search for additional tests for immunobiological evaluation of the candidate vaccines against African swine fever.

The spread of African swine fever (ASF) in Eurasia has forced a return to the development of live vaccines based on naturally or experimentally attenuated strains of the virus including those resulting from genetic manipulations. This process includes evaluation of the immunomodulating properties of the vaccines. In this report we provide our assessment of two tests for immunobiological evaluation of a candidate live vaccine against ASF from the attenuated ASF virus (ASFV) strain KK-202: (i) investigation of the effect of the attenuated ASFV strain KK-202 on the protectiveness of the vaccine ASFV strain FK-32/135 and a vaccine against classical swine fever (CSF) from the strain LK-VNIIVViM; (ii) determination of the phagocytic activity of blood neutrophils in pigs inoculated with ASFV strains differing in virulence.

An Assessment of Diagnostic Assays and Sample Types in the Detection of an Attenuated Genotype 5 African Swine Fever Virus in European Pigs over a 3-Month Period.

African swine fever virus causes hemorrhagic disease in swine. Attenuated strains are reported in Africa, Europe, and Asia. Few studies on the diagnostic detection of attenuated ASF viruses are available.

Protective Properties of Attenuated Strains of African Swine Fever Virus Belonging to Seroimmunotypes I-VIII.

This article summarizes the study results on the generation of attenuated strains of African swine fever virus (ASFV) of seroimmunotypes I-VIII and the creation of live vaccines for temporary protection of pigs during a period of epizootics in the surveillance zone (a zone adjacent to the area of outbreak). These studies were initiated at the Federal Research Center for Virology and Microbiology (FRCVM, formerly VNIIVViM) at the time of introduction of the pathogen to the Iberian Peninsula in the middle of the 20th century. The developed experimental vaccines against ASFV seroimmunotypes I-V provided protection against virulent strains of homologous seroimmunotypes by day 14 after vaccination, lasting at least four months.