The Truth About African Swine Fever Around the Globe

African swine fever (ASF) has been detected in over 50 countries in recent years. It continues to spread across Europe, Asia and Africa. Although this deadly disease of swine may seem miles away, the urgency to protect the U.S. swine herd from ASF has never been greater.

National Pork Board Chief Veterinarian Dusty Oedekoven recently traveled to the Global Consortium on African Swine Fever Virus in Rome to gather with world-renowned experts in ASF to discuss lessons learned, epidemiology, control in wild pig populations, diagnostics, surveillance and more. 

At the end of the day, the main goal was to explore ways to continue to work together across the globe to fight this virus. Oedekoven shares three key takeaways from what he learned.

1.    Countries with well-funded and well-developed veterinary infrastructure seem to be able to keep the disease out of domestic pigs. 

“I think this bodes well for the U.S. because we have a solid infrastructure here,” Oedekoven explains. “Through collaborations with the National Pork Producers Council, American Association of Swine Veterinarians, Swine Health Information Center, U.S. Swine Health Improvement Plan, National Pork Board, state and federal agencies and producers, we’ve been able to make many improvements.”

From increasing efforts to protect U.S. borders and increasing laboratory capacity across the National Animal Health Laboratory Network, to adding the Certified Swine Sample Collector training program and increasing biosecurity through the Secure Pork Supply plan, he believes the U.S. pork industry has come a long way to better prevent and prepare for ASF.  

“When we look across the globe, at countries that are well-prepared and well-funded, we see they are typically able to keep it out,” Oedekoven says. “But if they do get an introduction, they're able to respond quickly.”

2.    ASF virus spread in wild pigs continues to be one of the biggest challenges to keep ASF out. 

The good news is that it is possible to clean up ASF from a wildlife population. The bad news is that it takes an incredible amount of coordination and resources, Oedekoven says. 

“Once a population of wild boar is infected, it's difficult to eliminate the disease from that wildlife population,” he says. “There have been a few countries that have done it like the Czech Republic and Belgium. Sweden is working on it. It’s very resource intensive.”

Oedekoven says this is a challenge and a gap that he sees in the U.S. right now. 

“It’s not because the state and federal agencies aren’t working hard in this area,” he says. “But in the European countries, when they have an introduction of ASF in wild boar, they immediately fence around that population and eradicate all of the wild pigs and sometimes the domestic pigs within that fenced area.”

He’s quick to point out that USDA Wildlife Services continues to conduct research and surveillance in wild pigs but there’s more work to be done with regard to coordinating a response to the finding of ASF in the U.S. feral swine population. 

3.    A lot of confusion surrounds the development and use of ASF vaccines. 

“There was a lot of discussion about vaccines and the potential for using vaccines to control infection,” Oedekoven says. “But there aren’t a lot of clear answers yet. “

Currently there is not a globally approved, commercially available vaccine for ASF, he adds. Decisions about how widely the vaccine would be made available, and in which populations, have not been made. The potential impact to trade, or returning to trade, is also not known. 

“The U.S. is leading in the area of ASF vaccine technology. USDA’s Agricultural Research Service scientists at Plum Island have really done some great work. They have developed a vaccine that has been licensed to Vietnam for further investigation there,” Oedekoven says. “Progress is happening, but we've got a gap to close on vaccine development. There seems to be a lot of good momentum, but we are not ready for primetime yet.”

How Can You Be Prepared on Your Farm?
Although there are still many questions that remain, Oedekoven encourages producers to make sure they are as prepared as possible on their farm. 

1.    Secure a premises identification number. 

2.    Develop an individualized Secure Pork Supply plan for each farm location. 

3.    Make sure the farm manager understands the features of the biosecurity plan. 

4.    Utilize AgView to provide disease status updates and pig movement data to state animal health officials when and if needed.

5.    Be alert to illness on your farm.

“Most importantly, if you see something that's unusual in your herd, make sure you notify your veterinarian right away so you can get samples collected to go into the lab,” Oedekoven says. 

One of the challenges with many foreign animal diseases is that they can present with similar symptoms of endemic disease illness. 

“Don't ignore it and make sure you communicate with your veterinarian and farm staff that when they see signs of illness, it’s important to get diagnostics done,” he adds. “That’s part of being prepared.”

The U.S. does not have ASF at this time. ASF poses no food safety or human health risks. Learn more here.