Molecular cloning and restriction enzyme mapping of an African swine fever virus isolate from Malawi

DNA prepared from a field isolate of African swine fever virus, which causes high mortality and severe disease in domestic pigs, was cloned in bacteriophage lambda and plasmid vectors. Clones containing DNA inserts overlapping with each other and together covering the complete genome, apart from short fragments close to the cross-linked termini of the genome, were obtained. A complete restriction enzyme site map of the genome for three enzymes was deduced.