Alternative sampling strategies for passive classical and African swine fever surveillance in wild boar

摘要

In view of the fact that African swine fever (ASF) was recently introduced into the wild boar population of the European Union and that classical swine fever (CSF) keeps reoccurring, targeted surveillance is of utmost importance for early detection. Introduction of both diseases is usually accompanied by an increased occurrence of animals found dead. Thus, fallen wild boar are the main target for passive surveillance. However, encouraging reporting by hunters and sampling of these animals is difficult. Partly, these problems could be solved by providing a pragmatic sampling approach. For this reason, we assessed the applicability of three different dry/semi-dry blood swabs, namely a cotton swab, a flocked swab, and a forensic livestock swab, for molecular swine fever diagnosis. After nucleic acid extraction using manual and automated systems, routine quantitative real-time polymerase chain reactions (qPCR) were carried out. Results obtained from swabs or their fragments were compared to results generated from EDTA blood.