AFRICAN SWINE FEVER IN THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA
Besnik ELEZI, Kastriot KORRO, Merije ELEZI, Nesim SEFERI, Dashmir MAMUTI
Abstract
African swine fever is a highly contagious viral disease of domestic and wild pigs, which is characterized by rapid spread, high morbidity and mortality. It is transmitted directly and indirectly and can occur in hyperacute and chronic forms. In the acute form, the disease is characterized by high fever, skin rash and massive hemorrhage in the lymphatic organs. The nature of the disease can change, when it acquires endemic status in domestic pigs, accompanied by a significant reduction in mortality. The African swine fever virus is unique, with double-stranded DNA, the only member of the Asfarviridae family. It has the specificity of being an DNA virus transmitted by arthropods, is resistant to temperatures from 4C0 to 20 and pH fluctuations. It survives in serum at room temperature for 18 months, while in blood at 4 degrees Celsius for up to six years, at 37 degrees for up to a month, and at 55 degrees for 30 minutes. Putrification does not immediately destroy the virus, persisting in feces for 11 days. Infected pigs at different stages of the disease excrete the agent 24 to 48 hours before the onset of fever, but titers are low. The virus is present in all physiological secretions and excretions, including nasal, oral, pharyngeal, conjunctival, genital, urinary, and fecal. Surviving pigs excrete the virus intermittently for up to a month. In these pigs, viremia persists for up to 8 weeks and the virus can be found in lymphoid tissues for up to 6 months. The incubation period for contact infection in pigs varies from 5 to 15 days according to the virus strain. The diagnosis must be confirmed in the laboratory based on methods for detecting the virus and specific antibodies. The materials needed for the laboratory are blood with EDTA anticoagulant and without anticoagulant, tonsils, spleen and lymph nodes. The most useful and appropriate test is PCR. From the survey during the period 2022-2024, a total of 33337 samples sent to the laboratory of the Veterinary Research Institute were analyzed. These results were obtained for the years 2022, 11143 samples were taken for analysis, of which 107 cases were positive for the African plague virus, 2023 out of 7562 samples analyzed, 208 cases were positive, while during the period 2024 out of 4632 samples analyzed, 321 cases were positive.
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