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Arthropods as potential vectors of African swine fever virus outbreaks on pig farms in the Republic of Korea
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  • Hachung Yoon,
  • Seong-Keun Hong,
  • Ilseob Lee,
  • Eune-Seob Lee
Hachung Yoon
QIA

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Seong-Keun Hong
Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency
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Ilseob Lee
Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency
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Eune-Seob Lee
Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency
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Abstract

The seasonality of African swine fever (ASF), with cases concentrated over the summer in Europe, in addition to outbreaks on farms with high levels of biosecurity, suggest that ASF virus (ASFV) may be transmitted by arthropod vectors. In this study, arthropods were collected from Korean pig farms with ASF outbreaks to determine the role of arthropods as a potential vector of ASFV. Arthropods were collected from 14 farms with ASF outbreaks, from September 27 to October 31, 2019. A total of 28,729 arthropods, including 28,508 (99.2%) Diptera, were collected using blacklight traps, insect nets, and yellow sticky strips. All arthropods samples were negative for ASFV genomic DNA according to laboratory tests using real-time polymerase chain reaction. Nevertheless, it is premature to conclude that arthropods do not play any role in ASFV transmission.