Abstract
African swine fever (ASF) is a disease characterized by high mortality and severe hemorrhagic damage in swine breeds, leading to significant economic losses for domestic pig farm operations. Although the introduction route of ASF in South Korea remains unclear, the primary transmission is believed to be through contamination of environmental fomites by migrating ASF-positive wild boar. Therefore, understanding the persistence of African swine fever virus (ASFV) under various environmental conditions in South Korea is crucial. In this study, we assessed the stability and infectivity of the ASFV/Yeoncheon/2019 isolate under different experimental conditions, including variations in temperature and environmental matrices. Our results indicate that most infectious samples, except for excretions, maintained ASFV infectivity for 36-48 weeks, particularly at low temperatures. In contrast, excretion samples, such as feces and urine rapidly inactivate ASFV infectivity within 15 days, even when stored at low temperatures. Environmental matrices spiked with infectious blood samples showed rapid decrease in hemadsorption (HAD) titers within 9-15 days. However, the ASFV infectivity remained in most samples, which were previously deemed HAD negative. These findings suggest the need for caution when assessing virus inactivation and provide insight into the environmental persistence of ASFV in various matrices.