Efficacy of a bioactive protein on experimental oral infection by a highly virulent African swine fever virus https://doi.org/10.12982/VIS.2026.077
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Abstract
African swine fever (ASF), caused by the ASF virus (ASFV) infection, poses a huge threat to the pork industry due to its ineffective preventive and control measures. Currently, no effective commercial vaccines or antiviral therapies are available. This study evaluated the efficacy of CelluTEIN® X (CT_X), a bioactive protein feed additive, to delay and reduce ASFV infections in a pig challenge model. Sixteen 8-week-old crossbred pigs were divided into four groups: 500 ppm-Chall and 1000 ppm-Chall (n = 5 pigs in each group; fed with CT_X at 500 ppm and 1000 ppm, respectively), and Chall and Mock groups (n = 3 pigs in each group). Animals were orally challenged with ASFV genotype II (103HAD50, 3mL/each pig) and monitored for 21 days post-infection (dpi). Clinical outcomes, macroscopic pathology, histopathology, viral load (qPCR), and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were assessed. Pigs receiving the CT_X supplementation demonstrated markedly mild clinical outcomes, lower viral loads, and reduced tissue damage compared to those pigs without supplementation. CT_X at 500 ppm showed promising efficacy, achieving 40% survival and significantly higher survival rate than the challenged control (log-rank p = 0.049), whereas no survival was observed in the 1000 ppm–Chall or Chall groups. This group also displayed substantially lower clinical scores and milder gross and microscopic lesions, accompanied by markedly reduced blood and tissue viral loads; importantly, no ASFV antigen was detectable by qPCR or IHC in surviving 500ppm-Chall animals. In contrast, although 1000ppm-Chall pigs exhibited delayed disease progression, this did not translate into improved survival, suggesting the 500-ppm dose may be the more compelling candidate for further evaluation. This study highlights the potential of CT_X as a novel prophylactic substance in prevention of ASFV infection.
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