African swine fever (ASF) is a devastating disease in domestic and wild pigs. Since the first outbreak of ASF in August 2018 in China, the disease has spread throughout the country with an unprecedented speed, causing heavy losses to the pig and related industries. As a result, strategies for managing the disease are urgently needed. This paper summarizes the important aspects of three key elements about African swine fever virus (ASFV) transmission, including the sources of infection, transmission routes, and susceptible animals. It overviews the relevant prevention and control strategies, focusing on the research progress of ASFV vaccines, anti-ASFV drugs, ASFV-resistant pigs, efficient disinfection, and pig farm biosecurity. We then reviewed the key technical points concerning pig farm repopulation, which is critical to the pork industry. We hope to not only provide a theoretical basis but also practical strategies for effective dealing with the ASF epidemic and restoration of pig production.

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African swine fever virus (ASFV) is a highly infectious and lethal swine pathogen that causes severe socio-economic consequences in affected countries. Unfortunately, effective vaccine for combating ASF is unavailable so far, and the prevention and control strategies for ASFV are still very limited. Toosendanin (TSN), a triterpenoid saponin extracted from the medicinal herb Melia toosendan Sieb. Et Zucc, has been demonstrated to possess analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-botulism and anti-microbial activities, and was used clinically as an anthelmintic, while the antiviral effect of TSN on ASFV has not been reported. In this study, we revealed that TSN exhibited a potent inhibitory effect on ASFV GZ201801-38 strain in porcine alveolar macrophages (PAMs; EC50 = 0.085 μM, SI = 365) in a dose-dependent manner. TSN showed robust antiviral activity in different doses of ASFV infection and reduced the transcription and translation levels of ASFV p30 protein, viral genomic DNA quantity as well as viral titer at 24 and 48 h post-infection. In addition, TSN did not affect virion attachment and release but intervened in its internalization in PAMs. Further investigations disclosed that TSN played its antiviral role by upregulating the host IFN-stimulated gene (ISG) IRF1 rather than by directly inactivating the virus particles. Overall, our results suggest that TSN is an effective antiviral agent against ASFV replication in vitro and may have the potential for clinical use.