Detection of a Novel African Swine Fever Virus with Three Large-Fragment Deletions in Genome, China

Abstract

African swine fever virus (ASFV) has been circulating in China for 5 years, and low virulent strains with changes in the genome have been reported. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of knowledge about the epidemic strains at the whole-genome level. This study reported a novel strain and further analyzed its genomic and biological characteristics. In addition, our study also suggests that whole-genome sequencing plays a key role in the epidemiology investigation of ASFV variations.We reported a novel African swine fever virus (ASFV) strain that had a three-large-fragment deletion and unique variations in genome. This isolate displayed a nonhemadsorbing phenotype and had homogeneous proliferation compared with the wild-type ASFV strain. Our findings highlighted the urgent need for further investigation of ASFV variations in China. IMPORTANCE African swine fever virus (ASFV) has been circulating in China for 5 years, and low virulent strains with changes in the genome have been reported. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of knowledge about the epidemic strains at the whole-genome level. This study reported a novel strain and further analyzed its genomic and biological characteristics. In addition, our study also suggests that whole-genome sequencing plays a key role in the epidemiology investigation of ASFV variations.