African swine fever virus: cellular and molecular aspects

Over the last years, African swine fever virus (ASFV) has spread to several European and Asian countries, presently showing an unprecedented geographic distribution. The present chapter focuses on current knowledge and advances in the cellular/molecular features of ASFV, highlighting the gaps and future perspectives. The first half of the chapter addresses the general features of ASFV, its phylogeny and evolution, together with an overview of the viral transcription mechanisms and transcriptomics and the proteomics of ASFV-infected cells. The second half of the chapter summarises the structure and composition of the infectious ASFV particle, the mechanisms that lead to the infection and replication of the virus at the cellular level, and the viral-pig interactions. The last part of the chapter presents an overview of the currently described antiviral agents against ASFV.