No matter size and scale, all U.S. pork producers need to be on same page with ASF biosecurity protocols.
If African swine fever arrived in the United States, it is estimated it would cost $50 billion over the course of 10 years to eradicate the disease. With the industry moving around a million pigs per day to 17 different states, it would spread rapidly, says USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Administrator Jack Shere — and it would not only affect the swine industry, but several associated businesses, with some estimates showing an $80 billion impact on the country.
Shere says that's why APHIS has invested more than $500 million to prevent the spread of ASF and to enhance surveillance, testing and response preparations in the U.S. mainland, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as work with ASF-positive nations, such as the Dominican Republic and Haiti, to mitigate the virus.
"USDA is working every day to stop this disease from breaching our borders. We're working with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. We're working to eliminate feral hogs, both in the U.S. and in Puerto Rico. We're creating active and passive surveillance plans in the United States and Puerto Rico," Shere says. "We know that our commercial pork producers and veterinarians and pig owners are among the nation's first line of defense, and that is very important against African swine fever."
To further support the industry, and to prevent ASF introduction, APHIS recently launched the Protect Our Pigs initiative to provide the most up-to-date information on ASF as well as free resources. The new Protect Our Pigs website will house materials such as downloadable fact sheets and posters, instructional videos, shareable social media graphics, a new interactive biosecurity guide and the latest disease updates. If ASF is detected in the United States, APHIS will be ready to respond immediately with actionable information and resources for pig owners and the public.
"Protecting our pigs"