Genotype I African swine fever viruses emerged in domestic pigs in China and caused chronic infection
Encheng Sun, Lianyu Huang, Xianfeng Zhang, Jiwen Zhang, Dongdong Shen, Zhenjiang Zhang, Zilong Wang, Hong Huo, Wenqing Wang, Haoyue Huangfu, Wan Wang, Fang Li, Renqiang Liu, Jianhong Sun, Zhi‐Jun Tian, Wei Xia, Yuntao Guan, Xijun He, Yuanmao Zhu, Dongming Zhao, Zhigao Bu
Abstract
The Georgia-07-like genotype II African swine fever virus (ASFV) with high virulence has been prevalent in China since 2018. Here, we report that genotype I ASFVs have now also emerged in China. Two non-haemadsorbing genotype I ASFVs, HeN/ZZ-P1/21 and SD/DY-I/21, were isolated from pig farms in Henan and Shandong province, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis of the whole genome sequences suggested that both isolates share high similarity with NH/P68 and OURT88/3, two genotype I ASFVs isolated in Portugal in the last century. Animal challenge testing revealed that SD/DY-I/21 shows low virulence and efficient transmissibility in pigs, and causes mild onset of infection and chronic disease. SD/DY-I/21 was found to cause necrotic skin lesions and joint swelling. The emergence of genotype I ASFVs will present more problems and challenges for the control and prevention of African swine fever in China.