Recombinant Newcastle disease virus expressing African swine fever virus protein 72 is safe and immunogenic in mice

African swine fever(ASF) is a lethal hemorrhagic disease that affects wild and domestic swine. The etiological agent of ASF is African swine fever virus(ASFV). Since the first case was described in Kenya in 1921, the disease has spread to many other countries. No commercial vaccines are available to prevent ASF. In this study, we generated a recombinant Newcastle disease virus(r NDV) expressing ASFV protein 72(p72) by reverse genetics and evaluated its humoral and cellular immunogenicity in a mouse model. The recombinant virus, r NDV/p72, replicated well in embryonated chicken eggs and was safe to use in chicks and mice. The p72 gene in r NDV/p72 was stably maintained through ten passages. Mice immunized with r NDV/p72 developed high titers of ASFV p72 specific Ig G antibody, and had higher levels of Ig G1 than IgG2 a. Immunization also elicited T-cell proliferation and secretion of IFN-γ and IL-4. Taken together, these results indicate that r NDV expressing ASFV p72 might be a potential vaccine candidate for preventing ASF.