African swine fever (ASF) is a highly contagious and deadly hemorrhagic disease of domestic pigs caused by African swine fever virus (ASFV), a double-strand DNA virus of the family Asfarviridae and genus Asfivirus (1). Twenty-two ASFV genotypes (I–XXII) have been identified on the basis of nucleotide sequencing of the variable 3′-end of the B646L gene encoding the major capsid protein p72 (2,3).

Historically, all ASFV p72 genotypes have been circulating in eastern and southern Africa, and genotype I has been circulating in Europe, South America, the Caribbean, and western Africa (2,3). Spread of ASFV beyond traditional geographic boundaries occurred with incursion of p72 genotype II into the Republic of Georgia and its subsequent spread into Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia (4,5) and incursion of genotype IX into western Africa (6). ASFV circulating in Tanzania has p72 genotypes X, XV, and XVI (7–10). We describe incursion and persistent circulation in Tanzania of a highly virulent p72 genotype II ASFV that is identical to the Georgia 2007/1 isolate in the 3′-end of the B646L gene.

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