Unlocking the Black Box: The Molecular Dialogue Between ASFV and Its Tick Host

African Swine Fever is a lethal hemorrhagic disease caused by a DNA virus that affects domestic and wild pigs, causing serious economic losses in the swine industry. African Swine Fever virus (ASFV) is maintained in a sylvatic cycle that includes wildlife and <i>Ornithodoros</i> tick species. A huge investigation about ASFV structure and its infection process in pigs has been carried out in recent years, and although these studies have increased our knowledge about its pathogenesis, there are still many unclear aspects about which immune responses protect swine hosts against the disease caused by this virus. The mechanisms of ASFV infection in ticks are even less well understood. This infection is long term and persistent, with relatively high levels of virus replication in different tick tissues. According to specific infected tissues, the <i>Ornithodoros</i> tick species that are ASFV-competent vectors show transstadial, transovarial and/or venereal transmissions. This review is focused on the main process taking place at the virus-vector interface, summarizing the latest findings about the molecular and cellular aspects of ASFV infection in ticks, which could constitute the basis for developing novel strategies to interrupt the arthropod transmission cycle.