Seroprevalence and epidemiology of African Swine Fever (ASF) in Burkina Faso

Abstract

Background: African swine fever is a highly contagious viral disease present in most of the sub-Saharan African countries. Burkina Faso experienced its first African swine fever outbreak in 2003. The present study aims to determine the seroprevalence of African swine fever (ASF) in ASF-suspected pigs in Burkina Faso. Result: An overall seroprevalence of 16.1% (75/466, 95% CI: 0.119-0.208) of African swine fever virus infection was observed in suspected pigs during the study period. The seroprevalence of ASF virus infection varied according to the region [Central Region (19.6%) vs Hauts-Bassins (3.3%) p < 0.001] and breeding system [46.7% (43/92) in modern farms vs 8.6% (32/374) in traditional farms (p < 0.001)]. The analysis of 230 sera randomly selected among samples collected during the study period using three ELISA kits revealed seroprevalences of 9.1% (21/230), 4.8% (11/230) and 6.5% (15/230) respectively for INGENASA® (Madrid, Spain), IDVET (Grabels, France) and SVANOVIR® ASFV-Ab (Svanova, Uppsala, Sweden) Kits. Conclusion: The results of this study shows a high seroprevalence of African swine fever in suspected cases especially in modern farms in Burkina Faso with variations according to the regions. In the absence of vaccine against ASF infection, enhanced surveillance involving all stakeholders with awareness campaigns on biosecurity measures in farms are necessary for early detection of infection and their rapid control to prevent a possible ASF epizootic with disastrous economic consequences. *Correspondence to: Simpore J, CERBA/LABIOGENE, UFR/SVT, University Joseph Ki-Zerbo, BP 7021 Ouagadougou 03, Burkina Faso, Tel: +22625397168; E-mail: simpore93@gmail.com