Email this article 
Hide
Show all
Original Research
The African swine fever control zone in South Africa and its current relevance
Submitted: 05 August 2015 | Published: 23 May 2016
About the author(s)
Noluvuyo R. Magadla, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Johannesburg, South Africa; Department of Production Animal Studies, University of Pretoria, South AfricaWilna Vosloo, CSIRO-Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Geelong, Australia
Livio Heath, Agricultural Research Council, Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, South Africa
Bruce Gummow, Department of Production Animal Studies, University of Pretoria, South Africa; Discipline of Veterinary Science, James Cook University, Australia
Abstract
African swine fever (ASF) has been reported in South Africa since the early 20th century. The disease has been controlled and confined to northern South Africa over the past 80 years by means of a well-defined boundary line, with strict control measures and movement restrictions north of this line. In 2012, the first outbreak of ASF outside the ASF control zone since 1996 occurred. The objective of this study was to evaluate the current relevance of the ASF control line as a demarcation line between endemic ASF (north) areas and ASF-free (south) area and to determine whether there was a need to realign its trajectory, given the recent outbreaks of ASF, global climate changes and urban development since the line’s inception. A study of ASF determinants was conducted in an area 20 km north and 20 km south of the ASF control line, in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West and Gauteng provinces between May 2008 and September 2012. The study confirmed that warthogs, warthog burrows and the soft tick reservoir, Ornithodoros moubata, are present south of the ASF control line, but no virus or viral DNA was detected in these ticks. There appears to be an increasing trend in the diurnal maximum temperature and a decrease in humidity along the line, but the impact of these changes is uncertain. No discernible changes in minimum temperatures and average rainfall along the disease control line were observed between 1992 and 2014. Even though the reservoirs were found south of the ASF boundary line, the study concluded that there was no need to realign the trajectory of the ASF disease control line, with the exception of Limpopo Province. However, the provincial surveillance programmes for the reservoir, vector and ASF virus south of this line needs to be maintained and intensified as changing farming practices may favour the spread of ASF virus beyond the control line.
Keywords: African swine fever; warthog burrow; Ornithodoros moubata;control line
Keywords
Metrics
Total abstract views: 7918Total article views: 7796
Crossref Citations
1. Understanding African swine fever outbreaks in domestic pigs in a sylvatic endemic area: The case of the South African controlled area between 1977–2017
Leana Janse van Rensburg, Eric Etter, Livio Heath, Mary‐Louise Penrith, Juanita Heerden
Transboundary and Emerging Diseases vol: 67 issue: 6 first page: 2753 year: 2020
doi: 10.1111/tbed.13632
2. ANTIBODY PREVALENCE TO AFRICAN SWINE FEVER VIRUS, MYCOBACTERIUM BOVIS, FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE VIRUS, RIFT VALLEY FEVER VIRUS, INFLUENZA A VIRUS, AND BRUCELLA AND LEPTOSPIRA SPP. IN FREE-RANGING WARTHOG (PHACOCHOERUS AFRICANUS) POPULATIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA
Donald Neiffer, Jennie Hewlett, Peter Buss, Leana Rossouw, Guy Hausler, Lin-Mari deKlerk-Lorist, Eduard Roos, Francisco Olea-Popelka, Baratang Lubisi, Livio Heath, Michele Miller
Journal of Wildlife Diseases vol: 57 issue: 1 year: 2021
doi: 10.7589/JWD-D-20-00011
3. Detection of African Swine Fever Virus in Ornithodoros Tick Species Associated with Indigenous and Extralimital Warthog Populations in South Africa
Anthony F. Craig, Mathilde L. Schade-Weskott, Thapelo Rametse, Livio Heath, Gideon J. P. Kriel, Lin-Mari de Klerk-Lorist, Louis van Schalkwyk, Jessie D. Trujillo, Jan E. Crafford, Juergen A. Richt, Robert Swanepoel
Viruses vol: 14 issue: 8 first page: 1617 year: 2022
doi: 10.3390/v14081617
4. African swine fever: Update on Eastern, Central and Southern Africa
Léopold K. Mulumba‐Mfumu, Claude Saegerman, Linda K. Dixon, Kapanga C. Madimba, Eric Kazadi, Ndeji T. Mukalakata, Chris A. L. Oura, Erika Chenais, Charles Masembe, Karl Ståhl, Etienne Thiry, Mary Louise Penrith
Transboundary and Emerging Diseases year: 2019
doi: 10.1111/tbed.13187
5. An outbreak of African swine fever in small-scale pigs, Gauteng, South Africa, July 2020
Shira Amar, Liesl De Boni, Alex de Voux, Livio Heath, Peter Geertsma
International Journal of Infectious Diseases vol: 110 first page: S44 year: 2021
doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2021.04.003
6. Spatiotemporal analysis of African swine fever outbreaks on South African smallholder farms, 1993–2018
CA Mushagalusa, M-L Penrith, EMC Etter
Journal of the South African Veterinary Association vol: 93 issue: 2 first page: 82 year: 2022
doi: 10.36303/JSAVA.161
7. Current status of African swine fever
Mary Louise Penrith
CABI Agriculture and Bioscience year: 2020
doi: 10.1186/s43170-020-00011-w
8. Investigation into eradication of African swine fever in domestic pigs from a previous outbreak (2016/17) area of South Africa
Leana Janse van Rensburg, Mary-Louise Penrith, Juanita van Heerden, Livio Heath, Eric M.C. Etter
Research in Veterinary Science vol: 133 first page: 42 year: 2020
doi: 10.1016/j.rvsc.2020.08.013
9. The Impact of Virus Pandemics on Secondary School Principals’ Management Practices in the Mkhuhlu Circuit of Mpumalanga, South Africa
Maria Thobile Shabangu
Journal of Education and Learning Technology first page: 906 year: 2025
doi: 10.38159/jelt.20256914
10. Multiplex PCR for differentiating Ornithodoros tick vectors in South Africa: Proof of concept
Susan West, Juanita van Emmenes, Carin Boshoff
Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research vol: 92 issue: 1 year: 2025
doi: 10.4102/OJVR.v92i1.2225
11. One hundred years of African swine fever in Africa: Where have we been, where are we now, where are we going?
Mary Louise Penrith, Fredrick Mathias Kivaria
Transboundary and Emerging Diseases vol: 69 issue: 5 year: 2022
doi: 10.1111/tbed.14466
12. Partitioning, a Novel Approach to Mitigate the Risk and Impact of African Swine Fever in Affected Areas
Solenne Costard, Andres M. Perez, Francisco J. Zagmutt, Jane G. Pouzou, Huybert Groenendaal
Frontiers in Veterinary Science vol: 8 year: 2022
doi: 10.3389/fvets.2021.812876
13. An Updated Review of Ornithodoros Ticks as Reservoirs of African Swine Fever in Sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar
Ferran Jori, Armanda Bastos, Fernando Boinas, Juanita Van Van Heerden, Livio Heath, Hélène Jourdan-Pineau, Beatriz Martinez-Lopez, Rémi Pereira de Pereira de Oliveira, Thomas Pollet, Carlos Quembo, Keaton Rea, Edgar Simulundu, Florian Taraveau, Mary-Louise Penrith
Pathogens vol: 12 issue: 3 first page: 469 year: 2023
doi: 10.3390/pathogens12030469
14. The rising incidence of African swine fever during the COVID‐19 pandemic in Africa: Efforts, challenges and recommendations
Olivier Uwishema, Elie Chalhoub, Amirsaman Zahabioun, Success Chekwube David, Carlo Khoury, Taif Haitham Al‐Saraireh, Bezawit Kassahun Bekele, Rehema Mkamburi Mwazighe, Helen Onyeaka
The International Journal of Health Planning and Management vol: 37 issue: 1 first page: 561 year: 2022
doi: 10.1002/hpm.3357
15. Analysis of the drivers of ASF introduction into the officially approved pig compartments in South Africa and implications for the revision of biosecurity standards
Carla Stoffel, Patrik Buholzer, Angela Fanelli, Marco De Nardi
Porcine Health Management vol: 8 issue: 1 year: 2022
doi: 10.1186/s40813-022-00286-7
16. Evidence-Based African Swine Fever Policies: Do We Address Virus and Host Adequately?
Frank Busch, Céline Haumont, Mary-Louise Penrith, Alberto Laddomada, Klaas Dietze, Anja Globig, Vittorio Guberti, Laura Zani, Klaus Depner
Frontiers in Veterinary Science vol: 8 year: 2021
doi: 10.3389/fvets.2021.637487
17. Extension of Sylvatic Circulation of African Swine Fever Virus in Extralimital Warthogs in South Africa
Anthony F. Craig, Mathilde L. Schade-Weskott, Henry J. Harris, Livio Heath, Gideon J. P. Kriel, Lin-Mari de Klerk-Lorist, Louis van Schalkwyk, Peter Buss, Jessie D. Trujillo, Jan E. Crafford, Juergen A. Richt, Robert Swanepoel
Frontiers in Veterinary Science vol: 8 year: 2021
doi: 10.3389/fvets.2021.746129
18. African swine fever virus (ASFV) in Poland: Prevalence in a wild boar population (2017-2018)
M Frant, M Lyjak, L Bocian, A Barszcz, K Niemczuk, G Wozniakowski
Veterinární medicína vol: 65 issue: 4 first page: 143 year: 2020
doi: 10.17221/105/2019-VETMED