A review on African swine fever disease and its control

African Swine Fever (ASF) is a highly contagious, fatal disease of domestic as well as wild boar transmitted through direct and indirect contacts, ingestion of contaminated feedstuffs and by biting of tick vectors. The disease does not infect humans (nonzoonotic) and any other livestock species. ASF was first detected in 1921 in Kenya and is generally prevalent and endemic in countries of sub-Saharan Africa, Europe and in some Caribbean countries. In India first outbreak of ASF was notified in January 2020 in the North Eastern States of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Due to the rapid spreading nature of the disease ASF Virus crosses the boundary and subsequently diseases have been also reported in different states of the country. This is the first time that ASF has been reported in India and hence all precautionary and emergency initiatives should be taken towards rapid containment of the disease with focus towards control and eradication within shortest possible period of time to avoid spread of the disease.