Sciensano is the Belgian national reference laboratory for African Swine Fever (ASF).
On September 26th, a total of 15 wild boars were found positive for African Swine Fever in the region of Etalle in the Province of Luxemburg on the 50 tested. An infected zone has been delimited around the detected cases by FASFC and the Walloon Region (more info on the FASFC website in Dutch or French).
This extremely contagious virus may cause economic extensive damages in the porcine exploitations. Sciensano develops tools to diagnose quickly and effectively the disease. We also characterize the various viral strains to improve control of the disease.
The preliminary genetic results suggest that the ASF virus responsible of the wild boar cases occurring in Belgium belongs to the p72 genotype II, CVR-1, IGR-2 and MGF1 variants. These are the variants mostly circulating within the EU countries as well as described in Moldova (2016-2018), Ukraine (2012, 2015), Belarus (2013) and in certain areas of the Russia Federation (from the data available at the European reference laboratory in Spain). Full length sequencing is in progress.