Seroprevalence of African swine fever in pigs in Lere and Zaria Local Government Areas of Kaduna State Nigeria

Abstract

African swine fever (ASF) is the most important disease limiting small holder pig production in Nigeria, causing mortality as high as 100% resulting in total loss of investment. African swine fever is of public health concern because it is a recurring disease in many countries including Nigeria. This study was undertaken to investigate the presence of antibody (IgG) against African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV) among pig population in Lere and Zaria local government areas (LGAs) of Kaduna State of Nigeria. A total of 45 blood samples were collected from different suspected pigs from Lere and Zaria local government areas (LGAs). Eighteen serum samples were obtained from eighteen different suspected pigs from the pig population in Lere LGA while twenty seven serum samples were also obtained from twenty seven different suspected pigs at Zaria LGA. The samples were tested by conventiolan indirect Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). The results showed 2 samples representing 11.11% of the total samples collected from Lere LGA were positive for ASF antibody. On the contrary, none of the 27 samples obtained from Zaria LGA was positive. Therefore, the overall seroprevalence was 4.4%. Pigs with demonstrable antibody should be considered as carriers of the virus because it is uncertain if true recovery ever occurred in them. Control measures such as use of biosecurity, routine test and slaughter of animals that tested positive for ASF antibody were recommended. Further studies are also suggested to involve larger sample size and better diagnostic technique such as polymerase chain reaction, having observed that ELISA –detected ASFV antibodies do not transfer into clinical ASF.