{"id":24499,"date":"2026-08-05T12:00:45","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T06:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=24499"},"modified":"2026-08-05T15:13:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T09:43:45","slug":"african-swine-fever-asf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/african-swine-fever-asf\/","title":{"rendered":"African Swine Fever"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>African Swine Fever Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Scientists at ICAR\u2013National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (ICAR-NIHSAD), Bhopal, recently developed India&#8217;s first indigenous MA-104_Cell_Line-Based Live Attenuated African Swine Fever (ASF) vaccine for pigs.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>About African Swine Fever\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is a <\/span><b>highly contagious viral disease affecting pigs<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>wild boar.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is <\/span><b>caused by<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the <\/span><b>African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a DNA virus from the Asfarviridae family.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Characterised by<\/span><b> high fever, haemorrhages,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>mortality rates <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">that may approach<\/span><b> 100 percent,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the disease has caused severe<\/span><b> socio-economic losses <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to the global pig farming sector.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The disease <\/span><b>does not infect humans<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (not zoonotic)<\/span><b> or other livestock species.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>African Swine Fever\u00a0<\/b><b>Global Distribution<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Originally found <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">throughout<\/span><b> sub-Saharan Africa, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ASF is <\/span><b>now prevalent in many countries <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in <\/span><b>Europe, Asia, and Africa.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>India <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">notified the <\/span><b>first outbreak <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of the ASF virus in January <\/span><b>2020 <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in the Northeastern States of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since its first detection in India, ASF has spread to several States and Union Territories.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>African Swine Fever\u00a0<\/b><b>Transmission<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>virus is highly resistant<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the environment, meaning that it can <\/span><b>survive on clothes, boots, wheels,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and other materials.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It can also<\/span><b> survive in various pork products<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, such as ham, sausages, or bacon.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Therefore, human behaviours can play an important role in spreading this disease.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Infection <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">can occur through <\/span><b>direct contact between infected pigs or boars<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> but also, for example, <\/span><b>through soft ticks<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in (sub)tropical regions or <\/span><b>through contaminated materials<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or contaminated <\/span><b>feed<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>African Swine Fever\u00a0<\/b><b>Symptoms<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The clinical signs of ASF can vary but are similar to some other pig diseases. Signs typically occur 3-15 days after infection.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>early signs<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are non-specific and include:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>High fever, lethargy<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and <\/span><b>loss of appetite.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Pigs may die suddenly <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">without further disease signs.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At <\/span><b>later stages<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, further signs may be observed including<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Reddening of the skin<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (visible only in pale-skinned pigs), with <\/span><b>patches <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">appearing on the tips of ears, tail, feet, chest, or under the belly.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Diarrhoea, vomiting<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Laboured breathing<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Swollen red eyes, eye discharge<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Abortions<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><b>still-births<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Increasing morbidity <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and unwillingness to get up<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>In severe cases,<\/b> <b>death <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">can sometimes be the <\/span><b>only sign of infection<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>African Swine Fever\u00a0<\/b><b>Treatment<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Currently, there is <\/span><b>no treatment available<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> against ASF, so <\/span><b>prevention <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">by adopting <\/span><b>strict biosecurity measures, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">such as culling the animals, is the only way to prevent ASF.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>African Swine Fever\u00a0<\/b><b>Prevention<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A <\/span><b>couple of commercially licensed ASF vaccines <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">are available in <\/span><b>Vietnam<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ICAR\u2013National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases <\/span><b>(ICAR-NIHSAD), Bhopal, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">recently developed <\/span><b>India&#8217;s first indigenous MA-104_Cell_Line-Based Live Attenuated ASF vaccine<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for pigs. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>News<\/b><strong>:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pib.gov.in\/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2294280&amp;reg=48&amp;lang=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>PIB<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>African Swine Fever is a highly contagious viral disease affecting pigs and wild boar. Read more about African Swine Fever, Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, Latest News.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":57646,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1948,21,22,23],"class_list":["post-24499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","tag-african-swine-fever","tag-prelims-pointers","tag-upsc-current-affairs","tag-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24499"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24499\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117348,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24499\/revisions\/117348"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}