Source: Susan Kelly, MEATINGPLACE, 3/6/19


USDA on Wednesday announced additional steps to keep African swine fever (ASF) from entering the United States as the disease continues to spread internationally.

In coordination with the pork industry and other U.S. agencies, USDA said it plans to:
• Work with Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) to train and add 60 additional beagle teams, for a total of 179 teams working at key U.S. commercial ports, seaports and airports;
• Coordinate with CBP to further expand arrival screenings at key U.S. commercial seaports and airports, including checking cargo for illegal pork/pork products and ensuring travelers who pose an ASF risk receive secondary agricultural inspection;
• Increase inspections and enforcement of garbage feeding facilities to ensure fed garbage is cooked properly to prevent potential disease spread;
• Heighten producer awareness and encourage self-evaluations of on-farm biosecurity procedures;
• Work to develop accurate and reliable testing procedures to screen for the virus in grains, feeds and additives, and swine oral fluid samples;
• Work closely with officials in Canada and Mexico on a North American coordinated approach to ASF defense, response and trade maintenance;
• And continue high level coordination with the U.S. pork industry leadership to assure unified efforts to combat ASF introduction.

USDA said it also is working through several ASF planning and response exercises with partner groups, covering trade implications, policy discussions and the boots-on-the-ground realities of a response.
ASF does not affect people and is not a food safety issue. ASF is a highly contagious and deadly viral disease affecting both domestic and wild pigs that is spread by contact with the body fluids of infected animals and by ticks.

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