African and classical swine fevers: WOAH Reference Laboratories at the NCFAD

The National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease (NCFAD) in Winnipeg has been designated as a World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) Reference Laboratory for African swine fever (ASF) since 2022 and classical swine fever (CSF) for over 2 decades.

Mandate

To advance science and research on the diagnosis, surveillance and control of ASF and CSF and to provide scientific advice, assistance and technical training to WOAH member countries.

Latest updates

• The latest WOAH Annual Reports are available online (once on the page, scroll to "African swine fever" and "Classical swine fever")

Activities and services

• Provide diagnostic support on ASF and CSF to WOAH member countries
• Providing expert advice and technical training to WOAH member countries on ASF and CSF
• Organize inter-laboratory proficiency testing with laboratories in WOAH member countries
• Provide reference materials required for ASF and CSF laboratory diagnostics
• Coordinate scientific and technical studies on CSF and ASF in collaboration with laboratories in WOAH member countries
• Develop and validate new diagnostic tools for CSF and ASF according to WOAH standards
• Vaccine evaluation

Current research interests

• Alternative sample types for early detection of ASF and CSF
• Developing and validating laboratory-based and portable molecular and serological assays for ASF and CSF
• Molecular epidemiology and pathogenesis of emerging ASF and CSF virus strains
• Safety and efficacy of ASF and CSF vaccines

Twinning and capacity-building projects

• WOAH Twinning Project between El Laboratorio de Referencia Regional de Sanidad Animal (LARRSA) in Guatemala and the NCFAD on enhancing diagnostic capacity for classical swine fever in Central and South America, 2017 to 2022
• Global Affairs of Canada Project between CFIA-NCFAD and Takoradi Laboratory on Building Sustainable Diagnostic Capability for Eradication of African Swine fever in Ghana, 2019 to 2022

More information

• African swine fever [woah.org]
  • Situation reports for African swine fever [woah.org]
• Classical swine fever [woah.org]
• CFIA reference laboratories and collaborating centres
• Reference Laboratories [woah.org]
• Twinning is winning: collaborating for the global management of animal diseases
• How Canada paved the road for COVID-19 testing in Ghana

Selected publications

• Spleen swabs for sensitive and high-throughput detection of African swine fever virus by real-time PCR
• Characterization of an African swine fever virus field isolate from Vietnam with deletions in the left variable multigene family region
• Oral fluids for the early detection of classical swine fever in commercial level pig pens
• Molecular and pathological characterization of classical swine fever virus genotype 2 strains responsible for the 2013–2018 outbreak in Colombia
• A re-evaluation of African swine fever genotypes based on p72 sequences reveals the existence of only six distinct p72 groups
• Characterization of a novel African swine fever virus p72 genotype II from Nigeria
• Pathological characteristics of domestic pigs orally infected with the virus strain causing the first reported African swine fever outbreaks in Vietnam
• Evaluation of a lateral flow assay for rapid detection of African Swine Fever virus in multiple sample types
• Superficial inguinal lymph nodes for screening dead pigs for African swine fever