African swine fever (ASF) first developed in sub-Saharan countries, but it quickly spread to the rest of the world, particularly to Asia. The virus responsible for ASF is a double-stranded Asfivirus that replicates in the cytoplasm of infected cells, causing fatal bleeding. As of 2021, there was no vaccine against ASF. However, Vietnamese and Chinese laboratories have announced that effective vaccines will soon be available. Massive slaughter remains the only way to prevent the outbreak, and in 2018, the outbreak of ASF in mainland China led to the slaughter of some 200 million pigs, i.e. 40% of the herd, with the serious economic consequences that we can imagine.

African swine fever