WillAgri
According to the Chinese Academy of Science, researchers have isolated the Chinese strain of African swine fever and have decoded its structure. It consists of five layers: outer membrane, capsid, double-layer inner membrane, core-shell and finally the genome. It is a rare and complex structure: the virus apparently consists of 30,000 protein sub-units, which is a huge figure. With a diameter of 260 nanometres, this virus is, for example, ten times longer than the Hepatitis A virus. The researchers also claim to have decoded the antigen structure of swine fever, which normally stimulates the production of antibodies and can lead to the development of a vaccine. According to the researchers, this is just the first step in the long fight against this disease. They are now analysing the core-shell to find the answers as to how the virus attacks the pig’s body.
Socopag