African swine fever (ASF) is a rapidly emerging disease of domesticated pigs caused by a highly virulent strain of african swine fever virus (asfv)

First identified in 1921 but largely restricted to sub-saharan africa, asfv emerged in the country of georgia in 2007, rapidly decimated to PIG populations across eastern europe, and is now considered endemic to the region. In 2018, ASF spread to china. China culled over 1.1 million pigs in hopes to contain ASF, but unfortunately, IT spread to other countries including mongolia, vietnam, cambodia, laos, north korea, south korea, and myanmar. Many countries, including the US are developing ASF vaccines to prevent the introduction or spread of ASF. Diagnostic antibody tests are a critical part of monitoring ASF. However, antibody test results can be confounded by vaccinations, because a vaccine and a virus can cause host animals to produce similar antibodies. One way to overcome this challenge is to develop a test for differentiating infected from vaccinated animals, also known as a diva test. Diva tests are critical for monitoring infections within a vaccinated population. In the case of ASF, a diva test would be of great value to avoid culling vaccinated animals during an ASF outbreak. However, the ASF vaccine in development in the US does not have a companion diagnostic diva test. Therefore, the aim of our project is to develop the diva test to differentiate antibodies from ASF infections and ASF vaccines. Our diva test will use a common antibody testing platform called enzyme linked immuno-sorbent assay (elisa). To develop the elisa, we will produce proteins from the ASF virus and vaccine. We can do this in our laboratory using the genetic sequences of each protein, and we will introduce the genes into a protein expression system that uses insect cells. We will produce and purify each protein from insect cell cultures and use them directly in the production of the elisa. There will be two elisas to differentiate infections from vaccinations, one that detects ASF virus antibodies and one that detects the ASF vaccine antibodies. Together, they can provide an end user with a clear answer about whether they have a vaccinated PIG, an infected non-vaccinated PIG, or a vaccinated PIG that has become infected. We will work in collaboration with academic and regulatory groups that study ASF in laboratory animals and naturally occurring ASF infected pigs in the field. Through these collaborations, we will be able to validate our diagnostics test on real samples to determine the level of sensitivity and specificity for detecting ASF infections. Following validation to detect antibodies from ASF infections, we will reach out to the USDA to validate detection of antibodies from the ASF vaccine, which is being developed by USDA laboratories. Although the ASF vaccine has not yet reached the US market, IT will be an important vaccine for the swine industry when IT arrives. We aim to develop and license the companion diva test for the ASF vaccine on a similar regulatory timeframe to enable the PIG industry to safely monitor ASF within ASF-vaccinated PIG populations. The coordinated release of a commercial ASF vaccine and diva test will greatly enhance biosecurity for the US and global swine industries.@font-face{panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; MSO-font-charset:0; MSO-generic-MSO-font-pitch:variable; MSO-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;}p.msonormal, LI.msonormal, DIV.msonormal{MSO-style-unhide:no; MSO-style-qformat:yes; MSO-style-parent:; margin:0IN; MSO-pagination:widow-orphan;; MSO-fareast-}p{MSO-style-noshow:yes; MSO-style-priority:99; MSO-margin-top-ALT:auto; margin-right:0IN; MSO-margin-bottom-ALT:auto; margin-left:0IN; MSO-pagination:widow-orphan;; MSO-fareast-}.msochpdefault{MSO-style-type:export-only; MSO-default-props:yes; MSO-ascii-MSO-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; MSO-fareast-MSO-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; MSO-hansi-MSO-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; MSO-bidi-MSO-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}DIV.WORDSECTION1{page:WORDSECTION1;}