Abstract:
African swine fever virus (ASFV) causes a lethal and contagious disease of domestic pigs. In South
Africa, the virus historically circulated in warthogs and ornithodorid ticks that were only found in
warthog burrows in the north of the country. Regulations implemented in 1935 to prevent transfer
of infected animals or products to the south initially proved effective but from 2016 there have
been outbreaks of disease in the south that cannot be traced to transfer of infection from the north.
From 1963 there were widespread translocations of warthogs to the south, initially from a source
considered to be free of ornithodorid ticks. We undertook to determine whether sylvatic circulation
of ASFV occurs in the south, including identification of potential new vectors, through testing
extralimital warthogs for antibody and ticks for virus. Results of testing warthogs for antibody
and other species of ticks for virus will be presented separately. Here we report finding Ornithodoros
(Pavlovskyella) zumpti ticks in warthog burrows for the first time. This occurred in the Eastern Cape
Province (ECP) in 2019. Since African swine fever was recognised in the ECP for the first time in
2020 and outbreaks of the disease in domestic pigs continue to occur there, priority should
be given to determining the distribution range and vector potential of O. (P.) zumpti for ASFV.