African swine fever virus (ASFV) is the causative agent of African swine fever. ASFV infects domestic pigs, warthogs and bushpigs, as well as soft ticks. The virus causes a lethal haemorraghic disease in domestic pigs, some isolates can cause death of animals within as little as a week after infection. In all of the other species the virus causes no obvious disease. ASFV is endemic to Sub-Saharan Africa and exists in the wild through a cycle of infection between ticks and wild pigs/bushpigs/warthogs. ASFV was first described after European settlers brought pigs into areas endemic with ASFV and as such is an example of an 'emerging infection'. The virus itself is a large DNA virus with a genome containing at least 150 genes. The number of genes differs slightly between different isolates of the virus. ASFV has similarites to the other large DNA viruses e.g., Poxvirus, Iridiovirus, Mimivirus.

Viruses