ASF in the Western Hemisphere: What’s Different 40 Years Later?
Editor's Note: This is part two of a three-part series on African swine fever
Since African swine fever (ASF) first struck the Dominican Republic 40 years ago, the global swine industry has grown tremendously. The Dominican Republic, in particular, has changed to more commercial swine production since the virus first presented itself in the early 1980s.
“My guess is if you did a census on the number of pigs on the island, there's far more pigs now than there were back then. That presents a challenge. How are you going to effectively get in there to do the epidemiology, depopulation and disposal and then testing to ensure that you're negative? It's going to be a struggle for their country,” says Patrick Webb, DVM, acting chief veterinarian for the National Pork Board.
In addition, the political situation in the island of Hispaniola is less stable now than it was 40 years ago, Webb says. Add to that infrastructure challenges following earthquakes and hurricanes in that part of the world that has left portions of their country in extreme poverty.
The other thing that's changed significantly is the scope of the swine industry in the U.S., says Bob Thaler, professor and Extension swine specialist at South Dakota State University.
“We're producing more hogs and we're doing it in larger farms with much better biosecurity,” Thaler says. “That's one of the big problems that China and some of the other Asian countries have – there’s still a lot of backyard production. You can have a small farm, but if they're positive for a virus, that's a virus pool that's a threat to all the other pigs around.”
There is also more international travel and interactions, which increases risk. It has become a much more global industry, says Harry Snelson, DVM, executive director of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV).
“Although technology has improved greatly and producers have more tools to help keep disease out, it only takes one breakdown for a disease to be introduced into the U.S. and transmitted around the country,” Snelson says. “Because of the way we move pigs today in the U.S., it's fairly easy to move diseases from one area to another. That causes a need for increased awareness on the farm and increased interaction to make sure that we recognize those disease challenges as quickly as possible and try to address that.”
Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) executive director Paul Sundberg, DVM, believes perhaps an even greater challenge is that the virus itself is much different now. The ASF virus strain discovered in the Dominican Republic is a different strain than the one seen 40 years ago.
“It’s the changing epidemiology of the disease that’s been the driver of all the things that we do,” Sundberg says. “That’s the basis of our ability to work on monitoring and assessing risk.”
Read More from this Farm Journal's PORK's three-part series on ASF:
Close All the Windows to Keep ASF Out
It's Time to Batten Down the Hatches, Pork Industry Experts Say
