Infographic: A Deadly Pig Virus’s Escapes from Africa

African swine fever virus has left the continent on three occasions, causing outbreaks in Europe, the Americas, and most recently, East Asia.

Written byKatarina Zimmer

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THE SCIENTIST STAFF

For centuries, African swine fever virus has circulated between ticks and warthogs in Africa as part of a natural lifecycle, occasionally spilling over to domestic pigs. The virus became a global concern when it left the continent and spread to the Iberian Peninsula—twice in the mid-20th century. The second time, it traveled across the Atlantic to the Americas. These outbreaks were successfully quelled through strict eradication programs, but a devastating epidemic now spreading across Asia has intensified global research into understanding ASFV and finding a way to stop it.

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Katarina Zimmer is a New York–based freelance journalist. Find her on Twitter @katarinazimmer.

Correction (January 17): The top image for this story has been corrected to identify the blue arrows as relating to a period from 2007 to present day. The Scientist regrets the error.

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Meet the Author

Katarina Zimmer
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After a year teaching an algorithm to differentiate between the echolocation calls of different bat species, Katarina decided she was simply too greedy to focus on one field of science and wanted to write about all of them. Following an internship with The Scientist in 2017, she’s been happily freelancing for a number of publications, covering everything from climate change to oncology. Katarina is a news correspondent for The Scientist and contributes occasional features to the magazine. Find her on Twitter @katarinazimmer and read her work on her website.
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