The 2022 Outbreaks of African Swine Fever Virus Demonstrate the First Report of Genotype II in Ghana

Edward Spinard; Ayushi Rai; Jehadi Osei-Bonsu; Vivian O'Donnell; Patrick T Ababio; Daniel Tawiah-Yingar; Daniel Arthur; Daniel Baah; Elizabeth Ramirez-Medina; Nallely Espinoza; Alyssa Valladares; Bonto Faburay; Aruna Ambagala; Theophlius Odoom; Manuel V Borca; Douglas P Gladue

doi:10.3390/v15081722

The 2022 Outbreaks of African Swine Fever Virus Demonstrate the First Report of Genotype II in Ghana

Viruses. 2023 Aug 11;15(8):1722. doi: 10.3390/v15081722.

Authors

Edward Spinard^{1

2

3}, Ayushi Rai^{1

2}, Jehadi Osei-Bonsu^{4

5}, Vivian O'Donnell⁶, Patrick T Ababio⁴, Daniel Tawiah-Yingar⁴, Daniel Arthur⁴, Daniel Baah⁴, Elizabeth Ramirez-Medina^{1

2}, Nallely Espinoza^{1

2}, Alyssa Valladares^{1

2}, Bonto Faburay^{3

5}, Aruna Ambagala^{3

5}, Theophlius Odoom^{3

6}, Manuel V Borca^{1

2

3}, Douglas P Gladue^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Foreign Animal Disease Research Unit, Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Orient, NY 11957, USA.
² U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Foreign Animal Disease Research Unit, National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, Unit Name, Manhattan, KS 66502, USA.
³ Center of Excellence for African Swine Fever Genomics, Guilford, CT 06437, USA.
⁴ Accra Veterinary Laboratory of Veterinary Services Directorate, Accra P.O. Box GA184, Ghana.
⁵ Animal and Plant Inspection Service, USDA, Greenport, NY 11944, USA.
⁶ Departmenr of Libral Arts & Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61820, USA.

Abstract

African swine fever (ASF) is a lethal disease of domestic pigs that has been causing outbreaks for over a century in Africa ever since its first discovery in 1921. Since 1957, there have been sporadic outbreaks outside of Africa; however, no outbreak has been as devastating and as far-reaching as the current pandemic that originated from a 2007 outbreak in the Republic of Georgia. Derivatives with a high degree of similarity to the progenitor strain, ASFV-Georgia/2007, have been sequenced from various countries in Europe and Asia. However, the current strains circulating in Africa are largely unknown, and 24 different genotypes have been implicated in different outbreaks. In this study, ASF isolates were collected from samples from swine suspected of dying from ASF on farms in Ghana in early 2022. While previous studies determined that the circulating strains in Ghana were p72 Genotype I, we demonstrate here that the strains circulating in 2022 were derivatives of the p72 Genotype II pandemic strain. Therefore, this study demonstrates for the first time the emergence of Genotype II ASFV in Ghana.

Keywords: ASFV; African swine fever; Ghana; genome.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

African Swine Fever Virus* / genetics
African Swine Fever* / epidemiology
Animals
Genotype
Ghana / epidemiology
Sus scrofa
Swine

Grants and funding

This work was supported by USDA internal funding (CRIS 301-3022-505-63) and NBAF partnership funding, and in part by an appointment to the Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC) Research Participation Program administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) through an interagency agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). ORISE is managed by ORAU under DOE contract number DE-SC0014664.