DEVELOPMENT OF MICROSCOPIC LESIONS IN SPLENIC CORDS OF PIGS INFECTED WITH AFRICAN SWINE FEVER VIRUS

Acute forms of African swine fever are characterized by hemorrhagic le sions in the lymphoid organs. This paper reports the evolution of lesi ons in the splenic cords of pigs inoculated with African swine fever ( ASF) virus (strain Malawi'83). Ultrastructural examination of the sple nic cords of the infected pigs revealed numerous macrophages attached to the muscle cells harboring virus replication center and cytopathic effects at 3 dpi (days post-infection). From 5 dpi, the splenic cords contained a large number of erythrocytes associated with abundant fibr in deposits, mainly arranged around the muscle cells, from which macro phages had disappeared. It is likely that the ASF virus replication, a nd consequent cytopathic effects, observed in the fixed macrophages of splenic cords, may be responsible for the fibrin deposition.