DNA segment of African Swine Fever Virus first detected in hard ticks from sheep and bovine

In this study, we aimed to detect viruses in hard ticks using the small RNA sequencing based method. A 235-bp DNA segment was detected in Dermacentor nuttalli (hard ticks) and D. silvarum (hard ticks) from sheep and bovine, respectively. The detected 235-bp segment had an identity of 99% to a 235-bp DNA segment of African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV) and contained three single nucleotide mutations (C38T, C76T and A108C). C38T, resulting in an single amino acid mutation G66D, suggests the existence of a new ASFV strain, which is different from all reported ASFV strains in NCBI GenBank database. These results also suggest that ASFV could have a wide range of hosts or vectors, beyond the well known Suidae family and soft ticks. Our findings pave the way toward further studies of ASFV transmission and development of prevention and control measures.