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Source: USDA, 9/16/21 The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s
(USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is issuing a Federal Order suspending
the interstate movement of all live swine, swine germplasm, swine products, and
swine byproducts from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to the mainland
United States until APHIS can establish sufficient mitigations to authorize such
movement. This Federal Order, effective today, is the final action in a series
of safeguards needed to establish an African Swine Fever (ASF) protection zone
in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.APHIS is taking this action out
of an abundance of caution to further safeguard the U.S. swine herd and protect
the interests and livelihoods of U.S. pork producers. ASF has not been detected
in Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands, and we continue to coordinate with
both territories to increase education and outreach and improve biosecurity. On July 28, APHIS confirmed ASF
in samples collected from pigs in the Dominican Republic through an existing
cooperative surveillance program. After confirmation, APHIS quickly increased
existing surveillance and mitigations within Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin
Islands. On August 26, APHIS announced
its intent to establish a World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE)-recognized
foreign animal disease protection zone around Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin
Islands to prevent ASF from being introduced there or the mainland United
States. The OIE provides for the establishment of a protection zone within an
area free of disease, as a temporary measure in response to an increased risk
from a neighboring country or zone of different animal health status. When the protection zone is
established, APHIS will have processes in place in Puerto Rico and the U.S.
Virgin Islands to:
- Prohibit
movement of live swine and products out of the protection zone.
- Conduct
appropriate surveillance within the protection zone to quickly detect
introductions of disease.
- Conduct
a public education campaign relating to biosecurity on farms and other establishments,
prohibitions on movement of live swine and products outside the region,
contacting authorities to report clinical cases, and similar actions.
In the coming weeks, APHIS will
detail the actions taken to create the protection zone in a dossier, which will
be submitted to the OIE. Once the dossier has been submitted to the OIE, APHIS
will work to confirm that individual countries recognize and accept the
zone(s). Their recognition will ensure the continued flow of U.S. pork and live
swine exports.
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