Source: Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE, 10/12/18


With outbreaks of African Swine Fever in China and Europe, the U.S. government and pork industry continue efforts to prepare for the potential introduction of the disease in the United States.

In an update issued by the Swine Health Information Center in Ames, Iowa, Paul Sundberg notes that the government and industry will conduct an ASF exercise next year to test response and containment functions. North American pork producers, processors, swine veterinarians and allied industry will be invited to participate.

This was among a number of developments since the industry met with USDA and FDA in early September to evaluate shared capabilities to prevent the spread of ASF in the United States. Still in the works is the resulting report from that meeting.

Testing capacity
Discussion topics at that meeting, according to Sundberg, included the nation’s capacity to test for African Swine Fever.

In the update, he noted that USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has approved 11 National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) labs to test for the disease, with a current capacity of 6,500 PCR samples per day. That number could be boosted to 8,000 with additional proficiency-tested staffing. USDA has identified an additional 22 labs that want to add ASF to their approved tests, which collectively could add capacity for another 9,000 tests per day.

On the topic of surveillance of the disease here in the United States, Sundberg described the current system as only “passive,” one that relies on producers or veterinarians reporting suspected cases to state or federal animal health officials. However, USDA is modeling surveillance needs, including the expansion of testing capabilities, from whole blood and tonsil to swine oral fluids and spleen.

Trade
As for trade, USDA and Canada have signed an agreement to recognize their respective regionalization plans amid an outbreak. USDA will consider working with other trading partners for the same arrangements, a process that takes plenty of time and money.

“There is additional complexity with these negotiations since there has not been an outbreak of a foreign animal disease in U.S. swine in decades,” Sundberg wrote in his update. “As a result, U.S. capabilities to regionalize for swine diseases [have] not been demonstrated.”

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