Detection of African swine fever virus-like sequences in ponds in the Mississippi Delta through metagenomic sequencing

Authors

Xiu-Feng Wan, Mississippi State UniversityFollow
J. Lamar Barnett, Mississippi State University
Fred Cunningham, USDA/APHIS/WSFollow
Si Chen, University of Tennessee
Guohua Yang, Mississippi State University
Shannon Nash, Mississippi State University
Li-Pong Long, Mississippi State University
Lorelei Ford, Mississippi State University
Sherry Blackmon, Mississippi State University
Yan Zhang, University of Tennessee
Larry Hanson, Mississippi State University
Qiang He, University of Tennessee

Date of this Version

2013

Citation

Wan, X., J.L. Barnett, F. Cunningham, S. Chen, G. Yang, S. Nash, L. Long, L. Ford, S. Blackmon, Y. Zhang, L. Hanson, and Q. He. 2013. Detection of African swine fever virus-like sequences in ponds in the Mississippi Delta through metagenomic sequencing. Virus Genes 46:441-446. doi: 10.1007/s11262-013-0878-2.

Comments

U.S. government work.

Abstract

Metagenomic characterization of water virome was performed in four Mississippi catfish ponds. Although differing considerably from African swine fever virus (ASFV), 48 of 446,100 sequences from 12 samples were similar enough to indicate that they represent new members in the family Asfarviridae. At present, ASFV is the only member of Asfarviridae, and this study presents the first indication of a similar virus in North America. At this point, there is no indication that the identified virus(es) pose a threat to human or animal health, and further study is needed to characterize their potential risks to both public health and agricultural development.