No one wants it to happen, but the possibility of a foreign animal disease (FAD) like African swine fever (AFS) or Classical swine fever (CSF) entering the U.S. is a lingering threat. Industry leaders are taking that threat seriously. Collaborative efforts are ongoing to develop protocols and procedures that producers can follow should a worse-case scenario occur.
At an educational session during the 2022 World Pork Expo, Pam Zaabel, DVM, director of Swine Health at the National Pork Board, and Tyler Holck, DVM, senior program coordinator of the U.S. Swine Health Improvement Plan, spoke about ongoing efforts to protect the U.S. swine herd.
“U.S. producers are concerned about ASF’s impact,” Holck said. They’re confused by all the acronyms representing different agencies and programs and they’re curious about how all the entities are connected.
The session was a chance for producers to learn about industry collaboration and coordination for FAD.
The First 72 Hours
“The first 72 hours gives animal health officials time to get organized and answer important questions about where the virus is and isn’t,” said Zaabel. “As they find positive cases, they’ll be drawing control areas around those premises.”
All pig farms within control areas will be quarantined, she explained. Those farms will need a movement permit to move animals and semen to allow for traceability, biosecurity and surveillance.
Traceability: The first step is to acquire a premise identification or PIN. “You have to make sure you enter the pin correctly and then start recording animal movements if you’re not already doing it,” Zaabel said. “Your PIN is like your social security number and you’ll need to be able to show those records.” Keep records of animal movements and diagnostic laboratory submissions and make sure they’re tied to your premise ID, she added.
Biosecurity: Complete a site-specific biosecurity plan and explain how the site meets all biosecurity measures like site-specific coveralls, a supply-entry process and load-out area protocols. The Rapid Access Biosecurity app standardizes SPS biosecurity plans and creates maps to visualize biosecurity infrastructure of individual farms across multiple states.
Surveillance: Producers and caretakers should be trained to recognize abnormal production parameters or clinical signs of foreign animal diseases, Zaabel pointed out.
In a confirmed FAD outbreak, samples will need to be collected and animals will need to test negative for a movement permit to be issued within a control area, she explained.
“We don’t have enough veterinarians to do this but many officials have agreed it would be good to have people trained on the farm to get samples,” Zaabel said. As such, the Certified Swine Sample Collector Training Program will provides that structure with both classroom and hands-on training.
“The training would be led by an accredited veterinarian,” Zaabel said. “It’s one more extension for people on the farm.”
More details are available in the Secure Pork Supply Plan (SPS). Funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Pork Checkoff, the SPS was developed over many years of collaboration. It provides for guidance and resources (www.securepork.org) and is completely voluntary.
“Although the program is voluntary, critical mass is important,” said Holck with US SHIP. “For this program to work, it needs to be universal.
“We’re putting together a program that compiles all of these initiatives into a national playbook,” he added. “We’ll have something we can use with our trading partners. We’re currently in a pilot that will transition into a formal national program that is modelled after the National Poultry Improvement Plan. It’s a collaboration between packers and producers along with state and national health officials and USDA – it’s an amazing collaboration. Initially set up as a 2-year pilot, we now have funding for years 3 and 4,” he added.
