Long-term persistent infection of swine monocytes/macrophages with African swine fever virus

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Abstract
Long-term persistent infection was established in 100% of pigs (n = 19) experimentally infected with African swine fever virus (ASFV). Viral DNA was detected in peripheral blood mononuclear leukocytes (PBML) at greater than 500 days postinfection by a PCR assay. Infectious virus was not, however, isolated from the same PBML samples. In cell fractionation studies of PBML, monocytes/macrophages were found to harbor viral DNA during the persistent phase of infection. This result indicates that monocytes/macrophages are persistently infected with ASFV and that ASFV-swine monocyte/macrophage interactions can result in either lytic or persistent infection.