Craig, Anthony FrancisSchade-Weskott, Mathilde L.Harris, Henry J.Heath, LivioKriel, Gideon J. P.De Klerk-Lorist, Lin-MariVan Schalkwyk, LouisBuss, Peter ErikCrafford, Jan ErnstRicht, Juergen A.Swanepoel, Robert2022-08-162022-08-162021-11-24Craig, A.F., Schade-Weskott, M.L., Harris, H.J., Heath, L., Kriel, G.J.P., De Klerk-Lorist, L.M., Van Schalkwyk, L., Buss, P., Trujillo, J.D., Crafford, J.E., Richt, J.A. & Swanepoel, R. (2021) Extension of Sylvatic Circulation of African Swine Fever Virus in Extralimital Warthogs in South Africa. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8:746129. DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2021.746129.2297-1769 (online)10.3389/fvets.2021.746129https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/86804Sylvatic circulation of African swine fever virus (ASFV) in warthogs and Ornithodoros ticks that live in warthog burrows historically occurred in northern South Africa. Outbreaks of the disease in domestic pigs originated in this region. A controlled area was declared in the north in 1935 and regulations were implemented to prevent transfer of potentially infected suids or products to the rest of the country. However, over the past six decades, warthogs have been widely translocated to the south where the extralimital animals have flourished to become an invasive species. Since 2016, there have been outbreaks of ASF in pigs outside the controlled area that cannot be linked to transfer of infected animals or products from the north. An investigation in 2008–2012 revealed that the presence of Ornithodoros ticks and ASFV in warthog burrows extended marginally across the boundary of the controlled area. We found serological evidence of ASFV circulation in extralimital warthogs further south in the central part of the country.en© 2021 Craig, Schade-Weskott, Harris, Heath, Kriel, de Klerk-Lorist, van Schalkwyk, Buss, Trujillo, Crafford, Richt and Swanepoel. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).African swine fever virus (ASFV)Sylvatic circulationExtralimital warthogsSerosurveilanceSouth Africa (SA)Article