Biological characteristics of African swine fever virus and its prevention and control measures in pork food production

Abstract: African swine fever is a potent foreign disease caused by African swine fever virus that was first discovered in Africa. It is not a zoonotic disease, but the incidence of this disease is extremely high. Once it occurs, it will cause a large number of pigs' deaths. Before 2018, China had no reports about the African swine fever epidemic. Since the first discovery of the African swine fever epidemic in Shenyang, Liaoning, China in August 2018, in January 25, 2019, there were in total 104 cases of domestic pig outbreaks in 25 provinces across the country. At present, there is no specific medicine for treating African swine fever, and no effective preventive vaccine. Once the epidemic is found, the sick pig must be culled and harmlessly treated, which will cause huge losses to the pig breeding industry. And it takes a long time to eradicate this disease, almost 5 to 35 years, which requires huge manpower, financial resources and material resources. It also causes a huge economic loss and also seriously threatens the market requirement of the industrial chain. Under natural conditions, pigs are infected with African swine fever mainly through indirect or direct contact with sick pigs or pork products carrying the virus. The introduction of African swine fever in Russia, France and other countries is mainly through the transport of pork or pigs. The main influencing factors causing African swine fever purification failures in Russia include the illegal transshipment of viral pork products. The virus is relatively stable in food and can exist for a long time. With the frequent development of international trade, the risk of African swine fever virus entering the world through pork food is also increasing, which is very unfavorable for controlling the epidemic. Many countries are aware of the importance of strengthening the supervision of pork and pork products which contribute to hinder the spread of the virus. Studies have shown that African swine fever virus can spread through kitchen waste and swill, making the epidemic difficult to control, spreading the epidemic, and causing huge losses to the pig industry and the food industry. In the meanwhile, the epidemic has been closely observed by consumers, and food safety issues are imminent. At present, the reports on the prevention and control of African swine fever are mainly focused on the epidemic origin, namely pig breeding industry, and there are few reports on the prevention and control of pork products enterprises. Therefore, this paper proposes that prevention of African swine fever virus requires timely detection and control. Meanwhile, practitioners should be aware of the hazards posed by African swine fever and take measures to protect the herd and prevent the spread of the epidemic. For food companies, they should take countermeasures, conduct comprehensive prevention and control in the process of raw material procurement, production and sales. By preventing pork and pork products from entering the market , the spread of African swine fever virus can be effectively cut down. Besides it also helps to promote the development of the pig breeding industry, and ensure food safety. This has important researchable significances and practical values.