The seasonality of African swine fever (ASF), with cases concentrated over the summer in Europe, in addition to outbreaks on farms with high levels of biosecurity, suggest that ASF virus (ASFV) may be transmitted by arthropod vectors. In this study, arthropods were collected from Korean pig farms with ASF outbreaks to determine the role of arthropods as a potential vector of ASFV. Arthropods were collected from 14 farms with ASF outbreaks, from September 27 to October 31, 2019. A total of 28,729 arthropods, including 28,508 (99.2%) Diptera, were collected using blacklight traps, insect nets, and yellow sticky strips. All arthropods samples were negative for ASFV genomic DNA according to laboratory tests using real-time polymerase chain reaction. Nevertheless, it is premature to conclude that arthropods do not play any role in ASFV transmission.

African swine fever (ASF) is a fatal disease in swine. Concentration of cases over summer and outbreaks in farms with high levels of biosecurity might support the hypothesis of ASF virus transmission via insects. A total of 28,718 insects were collected from 14 pig farms affected by ASF in the Republic of Korea. The insects collected were flies (N = 27,310, 95.1%), mosquitoes (N = 1,198, 4.2%), and cockroaches (N = 24, 0.1%). The remaining 0.6% (N = 186) could not be taxonomically classified. All the insects collected showed no trace of ASF Virus-DNA was detected by laboratory analysis. It is premature to conclude on the role of insects in the transmission of ASFV. However, the possibility of the virus spreading via insects should not be overlooked.