Argasidae ticks the vectors of African swine fever virus

Author: Tamar Chunashvili
Keywords: Argasidae ticks, African swine fever, country of Georgia
Annotation:

African swine fever is a contagious and fatal viral disease that affects both domestic and wild pigs of all ages and causes great damage to agriculture. African swine fever does not pose a threat to human health, is not transmitted from pigs to humans, and is not a food safety issue. The first case of African swine fever in the Caucasus region was officially recorded in June 2007. The first clinical cases of the disease were noted in Poti port. Then the virus spread eastwards, following the main transport routes. 52 out of 65 districts of Georgia were considered infected, more than 30,000 pigs died and 3,900 pigs were slaughtered. African swine fever is spread by contact between infected pigs. The primary carrier of the pathogen is Argasidae parasitic ticks. The incubation period is 2-5 days, the lethality is 98-100%. If the pig survives, it is considered to be a carrier of the virus for 3 months. In Palearctic region there are distributed 13 species of Argasidae ticks, which are united in two genera Argas (6 species) and Ornithodoros (7 species). In the Caucasus, four species of Argasidae ticks are known (Manzano-Román et al., 2012). Two of them - Ornithodoros alactagilis and O. Verrucosus are registered in Eastern Georgia (Maruashvili, 1965; Филипова, 1966; Гугушвили, 1972), O. asperus - throughout the Caucasus, and O. lahorensis - in Armenia. All these species are known as vectors of African swine fever. Argasidae ticks are not well studied in Georgia due to the nature of life of these organisms and the difficulty of collection methods. The African swine fever pathogen is known to persist for several years in ticks of the genus Ornithodoros (OIE 2007). Although African swine fever does not pose a threat to human health, strict transport (air, sea, land) restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of the disease create great difficulties for human activities.