Genetic Characterization of African Swine Fever Italian Clusters in the 2022-2023 Epidemic Wave by a Multi-Gene Approach.

ABSTRACT: The first report of African swine fever virus (ASFV) genotype II in Italy in 2022 marked the beginning of a significant invasion in at least eight Italian regions with different infection clusters. In this study, we used the multi-gene approach to investigate the epidemiological associations between ASFV strains causing cases and outbreaks in wild boar and pigs in Italy from January 2022 to the end of 2023. Our results confirm that all the tested ASFV-positive Italian samples belonged to genotype II and show high homology with genotype II ASFV sequences previously collected in Eurasian countries. Molecular characterization revealed the presence of four genetic groups in Italy. The majority of African swine fever (ASF) samples analyzed in the current study (72%) belonged to genetic group 3,

SUBMITTER: Giammarioli M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11360507 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature