Advance of African swine fever virus in recent years

African swine fever (ASF) is one of the most devastating hemorrhagic infectious diseases that affect pigs and wild suids due to the lack of a vaccine or an effective treatment. The large dsDNA genome of African swine fever virus (ASFV) contains up to 167 ORFs that are predicted to encode proteins. Since its introduction to China in 2018, this genome has aroused the enthusiasm of researchers throughout the world. Here, we review the research progress on ASFV in recent years. Given the importance of this disease, this review will highlight recent discoveries in basic virology, focusing mainly on epidemiology, virulence, pathogenic mechanisms, diagnosis, vaccine development, and treatment; this will help in understanding virus-host interactions and disease prevention regarding ASFV.