KSU researchers join with Biosecurity Research Institute to counter African swine fever

With the danger of African swine fever growing each year — and now poised to spread into Asia — experts at Kansas State University and the Biosecurity Research Institute are taking notice and taking action to keep it from infecting the United States as well.

African swine fever is a devastating virus, both to the animals it infects and the industries that rely on them. It causes hemorrhagic fever and high mortality rates for its victims, and it has no vaccine or cure. Animal disease experts indicate that the landing of such a disease on North American shores could lead to billions in economic losses, as it is already wreaking havoc on trade and the international market. African swine fever does not, however, infect humans.

As such, KSU and the Biosecurity Research Institute are coming at the problem from a number of angles, including improved analyses and communication methods, virus detection, vaccine development, and risk studies.

“The most effective defense against foreign animal diseases such as African swine fever, classical swine fever, and foot-and-mouth disease is to keep them outside the U.S.,” Jishu Shi, professor of vaccine immunology in the KSU College of Veterinary Medicine, said. “That is why we have developed fast and sensitive virus detection methods such as the multiplex polymerase chain reaction panel for African swine fever virus, classical swine fever virus and foot-and-mouth disease virus. We are developing new technologies that can be used to create an efficacious African swine fever vaccine.”

KSU will be aided in its research of the virus by the National Bio and Agro-defense Facility (NBAF) currently under construction alongside their Manhattan campus. The Biosecurity Research Institute will also be able to transition some of its workload to that facility once it is fully functional. The State of Kansas National Bio and Agro-defense Facility Fund is supporting KSU’s efforts with $35 million, but support has also come in from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the pork industry itself.