With the detection of African swine fever virus (ASF) within a pig population, a large question is raised—now what? Unfortunately, the answer is complicated and must consider many factors.
The Dominican Republic is now battling their second round of the virus, with a reintroduction in July 2021. Over 40 years after the first detection, which led to a complete depopulation of the swine population in 1978, the country’s course of action differs greatly this time around. The country is now relying on the use of passive surveillance by farmers and producers, with animal health officials investigating suspicious reports and applying testing, quarantine and movement controls where appropriate to help detect and eradicate ASF-positive herds.
While this current approach is less invasive to the total population, it still comes with a price tag. According to a Frontiers in Veterinary Science article, as of Oct. 2021, the DR’s government has paid over $9.67 million in compensation for more than 74,000 pigs nationwide, representing approximately 3.7 to 7.4% of the population.
So, what is the best course of action?
A variety of factors weigh into such a decision. Specifically, for the Dominican Republic, the swine population not only provides jobs, but for many families, it’s a food source growing in their backyards.
Realizing the need for answers, the Dominican Republic recently conducted a survey of the country’s swine production stakeholders across the value chain to best identify alternative strategies that may help control ASF if implemented.
The Study
Swine industry experts in the Dominican Republic were given three hypothetical scenarios of ASF control and were encouraged to share their analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of each. The scenarios included:
1) Total depopulation of all swine in the DR
2) Partial depopulation, and
3) Continuation of current control measures
Additionally, the experts were asked questions in the areas of biosecurity, surveillance, sampling, movement restrictions, border control with Haiti, vaccine use, wild boar and feral pigs, feed and continuity of business.
Summarized results of the survey, after review in May 2022, were shared with the representatives of the swine value chain groups and designated experts and presented to the Dominican Republic’s government officers.
The Findings
For the first scenario (Total depopulation of all swine in the DR), experts agreed this was a rapid and nearly certain way to eradicate ASF from the country, as well a way to potentially eliminate other diseases prevalent in the country, including Classical swine fever (CSF) and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS). However, the lack of traceability and knowledge of farm locations would make total depopulation nearly impossible to implement.
“Many social and economic concerns were reported, such as unemployment, loss of fresh pork and market shortages, loss of traditional pork products, and financial losses or bankruptcy for producers,” the report states. “These factors may drive some producers to not comply with control strategies or hide their swine from animal health officials, and the market impact from depopulation could lead to financial and food insecurity for the general public.”
The second scenario (partial depopulation) would leave the DR’s swine industry with a healthy population to support repopulation, allowing for a quicker return to production, as well as allowing the country to maintain a certain level of pork production and labor, lessening the overall financial burden and market disruption. However, similar to total depopulation, the lack of knowledge of farm location is still present.
The third scenario (continue with current control measures) provides the DR with a current availability of high-quality pork and requires a minimal financial investment from the government. However, the continuation of local trade of infected animals leading to disease endemicity and further disruption of the DR pork industry was identified as a downfall.
As the report states, “No clear consensus was apparent about the best strategy for ASF control in the DR and no single scenario was identified as ideal, but important positive and negative attributes (referred to as advantages and disadvantages, respectively) of each scenario were discussed and compared.”
Going Forward
While the main goal of eradicating ASF is common among the industry, “Important concerns were raised for each scenario that are common to ASF control globally, such as social and economic impact of total or mass depopulation, food security, animal welfare, and the ability of governments to implement controls with limited power, veterinary infrastructure or resources,” the report notes.
While no concrete answers were identified, ultimately, the survey identified the challenges that have likely contributed to ASF’s endemicity across the world. The results also improve our understanding of the reasons behind challenges associated with ASF control and suggest the need to explore novel approaches when attempting to control the animal disease, the report says.
