Detection of African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV) in <i>Haematopinus suis</i> : Evidence for a Potential New Sylvatic Cycle of ASFV Involving Lice and Domestic Pigs

African swine fever (ASF) is a lethal and highly contagious viral disease of domestic and wild pigs, listed as a notifiable disease to the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH). In the absence of any credible commercially available vaccine, the economic losses to the global pig industry inflicted by ASF is insurmountable. Currently, the control and eradication measures for the disease are broadly based on early detection strict biosecurity measures and stamping‐out. The complex nature of ASF virus (ASFV) epidemiology; seasonality of the disease experienced in some countries and in some pig farms with high biosecurity levels have raised serious concern on possible involvement of other arthropods as source of the virus. We have detected ASFV in Haematopinus suis , collected from sows that died of natural outbreak of acute severe ASF and also in newly hatched out nymph from the nits collected from the same source. The finding highlights on importance of H. suis as an important vector for transmission of ASFV with the potential for a new sylvatic cycle of ASFV involving lice and domestic pigs.