Genetic characterization of African swine fever virus in Romania during 2018-2019 outbreak

African swine fever (ASF) is a highly contagious and lethal viral disease of swine with significant socio-economic impact in the developed and developing world. Since its reintroduction in 2007 in the Republic of Georgia, the disease has spread dramatically thorough Europe and Asia. Among the most affected countries in Europe is Romania, which initially reported the disease in 2017 and in 2018-2019 lost about 1 million pigs. There is no molecular characterization of the virus circulating in Romania during that reported period; therefore, the purpose of this study was to provide an initial molecular characterization using samples collected from two farms affected by ASFV. The causative strain belongs to genotype II, and its closest relatives are the strains circulating in Belgium, Russia, and China.