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
Affiliations
Edward Spinard
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Foreign Animal Disease Research Unit, Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Orient, NY 11957, USA
Ayushi Rai
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Foreign Animal Disease Research Unit, Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Orient, NY 11957, USA
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Foreign Animal Disease Research Unit, Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Orient, NY 11957, USA
Nallely Espinoza
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Foreign Animal Disease Research Unit, Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Orient, NY 11957, USA
Alyssa Valladares
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Foreign Animal Disease Research Unit, Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Orient, NY 11957, USA
Bonto Faburay
Center of Excellence for African Swine Fever Genomics, Guilford, CT 06437, USA
Aruna Ambagala
Center of Excellence for African Swine Fever Genomics, Guilford, CT 06437, USA
Theophlius Odoom
Center of Excellence for African Swine Fever Genomics, Guilford, CT 06437, USA
Manuel V. Borca
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Foreign Animal Disease Research Unit, Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Orient, NY 11957, USA
Douglas P. Gladue
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Foreign Animal Disease Research Unit, Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Orient, NY 11957, USA
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.
