Department of Zoology, Entomology and Fisheries Sciences, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda.
National Wildlife Research Center, United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, Fort Collins, CO, 80521, USA.
Trop Anim Health Prod. 2024 Oct 29;56(8):366. doi: 10.1007/s11250-024-04195-5.
African swine fever (ASF) is endemic to Uganda and causes annual outbreaks. Some pigs survive these outbreaks and remain asymptomatic but are African swine fever virus (ASFV) positive. The potential heritability and genetic disparities in disease susceptibility among Ugandan pigs are not fully understood. In a 12-year study, whole blood and tissue samples were collected from 212 pigs across 19 districts in Uganda. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays were used to determine ASFV infection status and genotyping was completed using a commercial porcine array. The point prevalence of ASF was calculated for each district, and breed composition origins were quantified for the sampled pigs by implementing established ancestry analyses. Genome-wide associated studies (GWAS) were conducted using all available domestic swine samples (full study population; n = 206) as well as a reduced dataset (farm-level study population; n = 129). This study revealed a greater number of ASFV-positive pigs in border districts than in non-border districts, a high level of admixture among domestic pigs sampled from Ugandan smallholder farms, and 48 loci that were associated with ASFV infection status. The discovery of 48 significant SNPs and 28 putative candidate genes may imply the possibility of heritability for resistance to ASFV. However, additional investigations in ASFV-endemic regions are required to fully elucidate the heritability of ASFV susceptibility among surviving pigs in Uganda.
非洲猪瘟（ASF）在乌干达流行，每年都会爆发。一些猪能在这些疫情中存活下来且无症状，但仍为非洲猪瘟病毒（ASFV）阳性。乌干达猪对该病的潜在遗传性和遗传易感性差异尚未完全了解。在一项为期 12 年的研究中，研究人员从乌干达 19 个区的 212 头猪中采集了全血和组织样本。采用聚合酶链反应（PCR）检测来确定 ASFV 的感染状态，并使用商业猪基因芯片完成基因分型。计算了每个区的 ASF 点流行率，并通过实施既定的遗传分析来量化抽样猪的品种组成来源。对所有可用的家猪样本（全研究人群；n=206）和一个简化数据集（农场水平研究人群；n=129）进行了全基因组关联研究（GWAS）。该研究显示，边境区的 ASFV 阳性猪数量多于非边境区，乌干达小农场上抽样的家猪之间存在高度混杂，且有 48 个与 ASFV 感染状态相关的基因座。发现 48 个显著 SNP 和 28 个候选基因可能意味着对 ASFV 有抗性的遗传性的可能性。然而，需要在 ASF 流行地区进行更多的研究，以充分阐明在乌干达存活猪中对 ASF 易感性的遗传性。
