Xiaowei Gao, Xinying Dong, Hao Song, Yanhui Fu, Jing Li, Gaocheng Fan, Tao Wang, Yuan Sun, Yanjin Wang, Hua-Ji Qiu , Yuzi Luo 

Int J Biol Macromol. 2025 Jul 16:146109. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.146109. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

African swine fever (ASF), caused by African swine fever virus (ASFV), is a highly contagious and devastating disease threatening global swine production. The disease has caused substantial economic losses, driving the need for efficient diagnostic tools to enhance surveillance and control. Despite various available assays for ASF, field-deployable tools enabling rapid, accurate, and user-friendly detection remain urgently needed. Here, we developed and validated a novel one-pot recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA)-CRISPR-Cas12a assay for rapid and sensitive detection of ASFV by integrating all components into a single sealed tube, which requires only isothermal heating and ultraviolet visualization. The assay demonstrated a detection limit of 56 TCID₅₀/mL and could be completed within 35 min, and without cross-reactivity with non-ASFV porcine viruses. In comparative testing of 150 clinical samples, the one-pot RPA-CRISPR-Cas12a assay exhibited 100 % agreement with gold standard quantitative PCR (qPCR). Notably, the assay identified ASFV genomic DNA in whole blood as early as 3 days post-infection (dpi) with sensitivity comparable to the qPCR. This early detection capability, combined with a field-deployable format, provides a robust tool for implementing timely containment measures against ASF, especially in resource-limited setting.

Keywords: African swine fever virus; On-site detection; RPA-CRISPR-Cas12a.