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The U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) announced that researchers have reclassified the number of ASF virus strains from 25 to only six unique genotypes. This scientific innovation may help redefine how ASF researchers across the globe classify ASF virus (ASFV) isolates and may make it easier for scientists to develop vaccines that match the different strains circulating in ASF endemic areas across the globe.
"Previously, 25 different virus genotypes were identified across the globe," said senior ARS scientist Douglas Gladue. "Our research team recently re-evaluated all the publicly available virus DNA sequence and found that the majority of genotypes originally identified as novel were not correctly identified nor compared to already existing ASFV virus genotypes. Based on this analysis, there are actually fewer unique genotypes than the ASF research community believed, and that means that there is less diversity of ASFV affecting communities across the globe. This information is important as it may reduce the number of vaccines previously thought to be needed to protect against all ASFV genotypes."
This large-scale effort involved ARS researchers re-analyzing over 12,000 historical and current virus isolates that were produced from ASFV labs worldwide. The effort was made possible using the computing power of SciNet, which is ARS’ super computer cluster for solving agricultural big data problems.
November 13, 2023/ USDA/ United States.
