The pathogenicity of two groups of African swine fever virus isolates from Cameroon in domestic pigs

Abstract

A study carried out to determine the pathological relationships between two genetic groups of ASF virus isolates from Cameroon represented by the CAM/88 and CAM/86, demonstrated that both groups showed very similar clinical signs, gross lesions and virus titres in infected pigs. The clinical signs included a pyrexia first observed 3-6 days post inoculation, loss of appetite, listlessness, posterior incoordination, shivering and diarrhea. Other symptoms included dyspnea and lameness. The most frequently encountered lesions in all the pigs consisted of congestion of the lungs and hemorrhages in the kidneys and visceral lymph nodes. A pairwise comparison of the means of virus titres in similar organs of pigs infected with the two virus isolates showed no difference in virus titres (p > 0.01). The variation in the mean virus titres in organs was not affected by the virus isolates used (p > 0.01), implying no significant interaction between organs and the virus isolates. Finally, the overall mean virus titres in organs from pigs infected with the two virus isolates did not differ significantly (p > 0.01) but the virus titres varied significantly from one organ to the other (p < 0.01).