A simplified method for detection of African swine fever antibodies by immunoelectroosmophoresis.

African swine fever (ASF) is rapidly becoming a grave threat to international livestock raising and pork production (I). During 1978 new foci of ASF appeared in Latin America, Malta, and Sardinia (2). The Latin American outbreaks do not appear to have followed the course of a previous outbreak on Cuba (3), during which the disease was eliminated relatively fast. Instead, ASF now appears established endemically in the Western Hemisphere. Protection against endemic ASF must rely upon prompt and accurate diagnosis. Unfortunately, endemic ASF may no longer resemble the “textbook” disease (4) that produces high mortality and virtual self-elimination. The existence of carrier swine, together with establishment of the virus in susceptible ticks, has made eradication of the chronic and endemic forms problematic. To compound the problem, the newer subclinical and chronic forms of ASF are hard to distinguish from hog cholera and other diseases (5). Even laboratory diagnosis may be difficult. Some strains cannot be identified by