What Are the Transmission Routes of Classical Swine Fever? Understanding How the Virus Spreads in One Article
Classical swine fever is an acute, febrile, contact-transmissible infectious disease. It is highly contagious and lethal, and can occur in all four seasons. So what are the transmission routes of classical swine fever?
1. Transmission Routes of Classical Swine Fever
1. Vector-borne transmission. The classical swine fever virus can be transmitted through ticks, mosquitoes, horse flies, stable flies and others, and the classical swine fever virus can reproduce within certain insects and remain active for a long time.
2. Transmission by infected domestic pigs and wild boars. It can be transmitted through fresh meat products, blood and semen, and under certain specific conditions the survival time can reach 4-6 years. It can also be transmitted through cured meat, ham, and the feces of infected pigs.
3. In addition, after an outbreak occurs on a farm, feed contaminated by the virus, blood-based feed, swill contaminated by the virus, water sources, equipment, the clothing worn by farm workers, and the air near the contaminated farm are all potential sources of infection.
When the African swine fever virus infects through the air, it mainly enters the pig's body through the mouth and upper respiratory tract system, causing infection in the nasopharynx or tonsils, and the virus quickly spreads to the submandibular lymph nodes and throughout the body via the lymphatic system and blood.
After an outbreak occurs on a farm, if the farmer does not report it, does not carry out relevant virus prevention and control, and the pens have not been strictly disinfected, it is possible that nearby farms may be infected through airborne transmission. Everyone must pay attention to this, remain vigilant, and take preventive measures.
2. Characteristics of Classical Swine Fever
Classical swine fever is an acute, contact-transmissible infectious disease of pigs, characterized by high fever, severe bleeding of internal organs and a high mortality rate, but it poses no direct harm to humans.
Under natural conditions, this disease only infects pigs. Pigs and wild boars of different ages, sexes and breeds are all susceptible, and it can occur in all four seasons. Sick pigs are the main source of infection. The excreta and secretions of sick pigs, dead pigs and their organs and carcasses, and the blood, meat, internal organs, wastewater and waste-contaminated feed and drinking water of emergency-slaughtered sick pigs can all spread the virus. Classical swine fever is mainly transmitted through contact and infection via the digestive tract. In addition, sows infected with the disease or with attenuated vaccine strains can also vertically infect fetuses through the placenta, producing weak piglets, stillbirths, mummified fetuses, etc.
Classical swine fever should be discovered and reported promptly. Only in this way can the safety of one's own farm be protected and large-scale spread be avoided.