Australia - country

6 Ways to Boost Mosquito-Borne JEV Preparedness and Response

Wed, 17 Sep 2025 13:39:10 GMT

Australian researchers have shared important findings about the spread of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) in a newly published study entitled, “Epidemiology of JEV in Australian Intensive Piggeries.” JEV, a mosquito-transmitted virus that impacts domestic swine industries and human health, can lead to severe production impacts in commercial swine, including reproductive failure, reduced conception, abortion, mummified and stillborn piglets, shaker piglets, deformed and weak piglets, prolonged gestation and boar infertility.

Although the virus is present in the western Pacific and Asia, it has not been identified in the U.S., where it poses an emerging risk to pork production. Funded by the Swine Health Information Center, in collaboration with the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research, this study reveals lessons learned from the 2021-2022 Australian JEV outbreak.

Brendan Cowled of Ausvet Pty Ltd, led the study that sought to understand how and why JEV spread in Australian pigs and make recommendations to assist the U.S. industry in preparedness should JEV ever arrive in the country.

Recommendations for U.S. Preparedness and Response to JEV
1. Improve surveillance for JEV in the U.S. by educating swine farmers on how to recognize JEV and how to report it.

2. Explore the potential to include JEV testing in existing public health surveillance programs such as sentinel chicken flock and mosquito monitoring.

3. Develop comprehensive integrated mosquito management protocols for farms. This will improve carcass quality but will also help reduce the impacts of JEV (and potentially other arboviruses) should it ever emerge in the U.S.

4. Encourage open discussion between the swine industry, pharmaceutical industry, and EPA and/or FDA to consider pre-empt emergency registration of insecticidal treatments for use in a JEV outbreak. Collaborate with USDA for potential gaps in research to support the registration of a future swine vaccine from Australia or southeast Asia depending on JEV type.

5. Continue strategic discussions between the swine industry and USDA to assess the modernization of the red book for JEV (FADPrep JEV Response plan) based on Australian experience.

6. Ensure proactive engagement between public health authorities and the swine industry to share industry concerns, and to assess practical, evidence-based approaches with relevant health authorities in advance, to minimize industry impacts whilst effectively managing risk.

“In the event of JEV becoming established in the U.S., it may be possible to develop machine learning or other AI approaches to predict the occurrence of seasonal JEV outbreaks,” the article advises. “These should be developed if JEV is established to provide early warnings, allowing proactive application of surveillance and control activities such as mosquito mitigation (e.g., insecticidal use) or vaccination of breeding stock (if/when a vaccine becomes available).”

Learn more about the qualitative and quantitative assessment here.

As JEV’s global range expands due to changing weather and migratory patterns, SHIC says Australia’s experience offers critical lessons for commercial swine industries like the U.S.

Australian Pig Farmer Embarks on 10,000-Mile Journey to Explore U.S. Pork Industry

Wed, 20 Aug 2025 16:36:36 GMT

Nearly 10,000 miles away, Australian pork producer Shaun Blenkiron decided to check off an item on his bucket list: travel to the United States to see how U.S. pig farms operate and attend the World Pork Expo.

As part of the 2025 Australian Pork Limited Pork Leadership Course (PLC), Blenkiron was one of six applicants chosen out of a pool of 30 pork producers representing pig farms across Australia.

“Back in February, the six of us rolled up to our first session. We had never met each other before and were thrown in the deep end with a course designed to build relationships and find everyone’s strengths and weaknesses,” Blenkiron says. “The connection we formed back then is something we’ll never find again – it was pretty special.”

In addition to this, Australian journalist and celebrity Shelly Horton led the group in a media training session where the delegates were “thrown under the bus” and taught how to answer tough questions on camera, he says.

(Provided by Shaun Blenkiron)

But the best part of the program – the international tour to the U.S. – was an opportunity he will never forget. The group toured through farms in California, Colorado and Iowa.

“It’s been unbelievable,” Blenkiron says. “The agriculture scene here has a great future with the kids coming up in it. That really stood out to me during our tours. There’s a lot of excitement among your younger generation.”

The U.S. Opportunity
From almond farms and buffalo ranches to beef feedlots and catfish farms, the young Australian leaders were exposed to a variety of agricultural pursuits during their tour to the U.S. One of the “wow moments” for Blenkiron was touring Brenneman Farms in Iowa.

(Provided by Shaun Blenkiron)

“The innovation, technology and the tidiness of the place was unbelievable,” he says. “Their willingness to adapt struck me. They are very nice people working at a big scale in pork production. It blew my mind how it was done so efficiently.”

One of the biggest takeaways from his tour in the U.S. was the impressive litter sizes in the U.S.

“U.S. litter size is unbelievably higher than ours,” Blenkiron says. “I think that goes with being so efficient. The Brennemans’ operation is down to the T, and I know they aren’t the only operation like that.”

He says the other big difference between U.S. and Australian pork production is the difference in margin per pig.

“I noticed your margin per pig is not very high compared to ours,” Blenkiron says. “I guess that’s why the U.S. is in such a large scale. If we were making $10 or $15 a head at home, I’d be broke tomorrow.”

Gumshire Pork — Barossa Valley, South Australia

(John Kruger )

Raising Pigs in South Australia
The Blenkiron family operates a multi-generational farm, Gumshire Pork, in South Australia. It consists of a 300-sow purebred Hampshire, Large White and Landrace farrow-to-finish operation and a boar stud.

“We could expand to 500 sows space-wise, but we are sticking to 300 for now, working on adding value, improving what we actually have, particularly with the Hampshire breed,” he says.

Gumshire Pork operates out of straw-based eco shelters in an open housing system. He says the only time pigs are on slats is when they are in the farrowing rooms.

Gumshire Pork — Barossa Valley, South Australia

(Photo: John Krüger)

“In Australia, we’re stall free,” he says. “Our country is also beginning to push for lactating stall free pens as well. Companies at home are innovating things to put in place with the lactating open pens rather than a farrowing crate. I know Europe had pushed it. So that means we have to be on the front foot and ready for it here, too.”

Gumshire Pork markets its own meat label. They supply many butchers in the local area throughout the Barossa Valley, Adelaide Hills and Clare Valley.

“Hampshire pork is going brilliantly,” Blenkiron says. “The demand is massive. We’ve won Champion Pork Product the last two years in a row through the Sydney Fine Foods Awards.”

He says selling private-label pork is a good business now.

“The Australian pork industry is at a high and looking to improve this year,” he adds. “Pork demand is up and consumption in Australia has increased. We’ve got more fresh cuts in our supermarkets compared to the U.S. The selection of fresh cuts seems very limited here in the grocery stores we toured.”

Editor Jennifer Shike caught this picture of the Gumshire Pork label at a winery in the Barossa Valley in 2019.

(Jennifer Shike)

What Health Challenges do Australian Pig Farmers Face?
Although he couldn’t wait to get back to his farm and see his family, Blenkiron’s return took a while as the Australian producers completed a week quarantine off their farms. They bought boots and shoes at Wal-Mart and left them in the U.S. to avoid bringing back any disease, Blenkiron says.

“We don’t have problems with diseases like porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) in Australia,” he says. “The clothes we took to pig farms were all thrown out. We never touched a pig, but we were still in their air space and want to take extra biosecurity precautions.”

Gumshire Pork — Barossa Valley, South Australia

( John Krüger)

One of his country’s biggest health challenges now is Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), an emerging zoonotic disease transmitted by JEV-infected mosquitos.

“How do you control a mosquito? You can’t control a mosquito and the water birds that move JEV around,” Blenkiron says. “Where we are located is lucky in this case. We’re too dry to get a buildup of mosquitoes, and it gets too cold in the winter.”

African swine fever (ASF) is on the minds of many Australian pork producers who know the virus is “knocking at the door,” but he says that’s the same challenge the U.S. faces, too.

U.S. Continues Efforts to Keep Japanese Encephalitis Virus Out

Thu, 30 Nov 2023 21:12:56 GMT

The Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases (CEID) at the University of Georgia has released a new Japanese Encephalitis Virus Information Sharing Network website - JEVISN.org with financial support from the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC).

The new website is designed to be an evolving, centralized source of information on Japanese encephalitis (JE) and Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV). The site is organized by the follow sections:

• Data – This section will provide access to publicly available data for the development of spatial interaction models and other scientific endeavors.

• Information – This section provides access to peer-reviewed publications on ecology, economic impacts, epidemiology and response plans.

• Listserv – This is where active communication with registered users will be encouraged.

• Resources – This section will provide access to fact sheets published by government resources, academic institutions and SHIC, as well as recorded presentations from the 2022 symposium Japanese Encephalitis Virus: Emerging Global Treat to Humans and Livestock , and technical literature.

• Updates – Learn about novel scientific endeavors and globally significant peer-reviewed publications in this section.

JEVISN.org is managed by CEID, and website edits will be made on a timely basis. If you are interested in contributing to JEVISN.org, please contact John Drake, director of CEID and the Global Infectious Disease Intelligence Consortium, at jdrake@uga.edu.

Read More:
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Mosquito-Borne Virus “Is a Nightmare” For Australian Pig Farmers

Mosquito-Borne Virus Discovered on Australian Pig Farms

SHIC Adds to Preparedness With Updated PTV and JEV Fact Sheets

Japanese Encephalitis Virus Could Happen in U.S. Swine Herds

French Pork Gets Go-Ahead for Trade with Australia

Thu, 24 Aug 2023 19:05:56 GMT

France has obtained final approval for exporting pork to Australia, adding a new potential trade outlet for a sector that has faced fluctuating demand from top importer China.

After years of discussions over sanitary certification, the Australian market was formally opened on Thursday to French pork, the French agriculture ministry and meat industry association Culture Viande said in separate statements.

France joins other pork exporters like Denmark and the United States in gaining access to the Australian market, which represents about 200,000 metric tons of imports per year, Culture Viande said in a statement.

The import approval comes as Australia discusses a possible trade agreement with the European Union, of which France is the biggest agricultural producer. Talks stalled in July, partly over the issue of greater market access for Australian farm products like beef.

Australia’s Trade Minister Don Farrell told Reuters on Thursday that the EU could invest in his country’s vast critical minerals sector but needed to make a better offer in the trade talks.

European pork exports have been curbed by erratic demand from China, outbreaks of African swine fever in Europe and a drop in EU production amid rising costs.

(Reporting by Gus Trompiz; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

Disease Fears Prompt Ban of Pigs At Melbourne Royal Show in Australia

Wed, 14 Sep 2022 15:38:19 GMT

Fear of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) and foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks have prompted the ban of pigs from the 2022 Melbourne Royal Show in Australia.

Show organizers made the difficult decision because pigs are amplifiers of JEV and represent a higher FMD risk through swill feeding, ABC News reports.

One of the veterinarians for this year’s show, Rob Bonanno, said he fully supported the move because of the “slightly heightened” risk.

In addition to no pig show, there will also be no display in the children’s petting nursery. Foot mats will also be provided at the entry of the nursery and livestock pavilion. Visitors to the show will also be restricted from the back half of the livestock pavilion in a bid to minimize biosecurity risks.

The Royal Melbourne Show runs from Sept. 22 to Oct. 2.

Meanwhile, organizers of the Perth Royal Show will be ramping up biosecurity measures with hand sanitizer and sanitizing foot mats during its show running from Sept. 24 until Oct. 1. However, organizers believe the risk of FMD outbreak is low. Concern remains about the fear of FMD because of neighboring Indonesia’s outbreak of the deadly livestock disease, ABC News reports.

More from Farm Journal’s PORK:

JEV in Australia: A Warning Shot that the U.S. Could Be Next?

Why U.S. Pork Producers Need to Pay Attention to Australia Right Now

Mosquito-Borne Virus “Is a Nightmare” For Australian Pig Farmers

Mosquito-Borne Virus Discovered on Australian Pig Farms

SHIC Adds to Preparedness With Updated PTV and JEV Fact Sheets

Japanese Encephalitis Virus Could Happen in U.S. Swine Herds

Viral Fragments of Foot and Mouth Disease Detected in Australian Meat Imported from Indonesia and China

Wed, 20 Jul 2022 18:20:15 GMT

Australia on Wednesday said it has stepped up protection against foot and mouth disease at its international airports following an outbreak of the disease in Indonesia.

Travellers arriving in Australia from Indonesia will now be asked to walk across sanitation foot mats at airports, the latest measure to ramp up Australia’s biosecurity measures, the government said.

The mats will contain a citric acid solution designed to dislodge any dirt from the sole of the shoe and cover it in the acid.

The move comes after foot and mouth viral fragments were detected in meat goods that came into Australia recently from Indonesia and China, Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said at a news conference.

“We have detected foot and mouth disease and African swine fever viral fragments in a small number of pork products for sale in the Melbourne CBD that were imported from China,” Watt said, adding that these were detected during routine checks.

“In addition to this a passenger travelling from Indonesia has in recent days been intercepted with a beef product that they didn’t declare which tested positive for foot and mouth disease viral fragments,” he added.

These viral fragments are not live and cannot be transmitted, he said.

Watt also said despite these findings Australia remains foot and mouth disease free.

Foot and mouth disease is a highly contagious animal disease that affects cattle, sheep, goats and pigs but does not pose a threat to humans. Government modelling projects a widespread foot and mouth outbreak in Australia would have an estimated direct economic impact of around A$80 billion ($55.3 billion).

More than 317,000 animals have been infected in 21 Indonesian provinces, largely on the most populated islands of Java and Sumatra, with more than 3,400 animals culled, according to government data.

($1 = 1.4465 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Praveen Menon; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)

Australia Proposes to Ban CSSP Poison to Control Feral Pigs, Critics Fear Worst

Wed, 13 Jul 2022 14:54:44 GMT

Readily available poisons used to control feral pig numbers could soon be banned in Queensland. The state government announced a plan this month to amend the Animal Care and Protection Act 2001 to ban the use of poisons that included carbon disulphide and phosphorus, marketed as CSSP, ABC Rural News reports.

According to Biosecurity Queensland, there are more human control techniques available.

But as the feral pig population in Australia nears outnumbering its human population, feral animal managers are concerned about eliminating an effective control technique. The risk of foreign animal diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease and African swine fever continue to increase, placing more concern around the possibility of feral pigs spreading viruses.

Feral animal management expert Darren Marshall told ABC Rural News it would be virtually impossible to spread the disease if control methods such as CSSP become limited. Although a number of methods are used to control feral pig numbers such as aerial shooting and trapping, poisons appear to be the most effective, the article said.

Losing access to CSSP creates a growing gap in options for controlling feral pig numbers. Marshall said in order to effectively control pig numbers, at least 75% of the population had to be culled over a three-month period – no easy feat.

The proposed ban comes from the desire of some stakeholders to use more “humane control techniques.”
Large amounts of CSSP can cause pigs to die within six or 12 hours, a statement said. But if the dose is lower, animals could survive for days or even up to three weeks before death.

Still, supporters of CSSP believe the ban is coming into place too quickly, making it especially hard for primary producers to control feral animals.

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Australia Faces Pork Supply Shortages Due to Japanese Encephalitis Production Losses

Thu, 21 Apr 2022 16:26:35 GMT

Experts say the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) will impact Australia’s pork supply as there are now 30 infected piggeries in New South Wales (NSW) experiencing production losses of up to 80%, ABC Rural News reports.

The stress is wearing on pork producers, NSW Department of Primary Industries chief veterinary officer Sarah Britton said in the article.

Although the disease has no impact on food safety, Britton pointed out that production losses would likely affect availability of pork. Disease cases are stabilizing in recent weeks as mosquito activity has reduced. Still, producers are left wondering if this disease will return next year.

Human vaccines are available, but none are approved for pigs in Australia. Apiam Animal Health is hoping to solve this problem by developing a vaccine as part of its new viral vaccine laboratory, ABC Rural News reports. The company has received $700,000 in funding from the Victorian government to build the facility and will work in conjunction with La Trobe University.

No Pigs Allowed at Sydney Royal Show

Because of the JEV outbreak, pigs were not allowed to exhibit or be on display at the Sydney Royal Easter Show this year. In the interest of public health, because there’s a large population traveling through the show pavilion, the show committee was advised to cancel the pig show. To date, 37 people have been affected with JEV and three deaths have occurred throughout Australia, the Australian Government Department of Health reports.

Royal Agricultural Society pig committee chair Janie Forrest told ABC Rural News that it was very disappointing for the exhibitors who spent months preparing for the show.

“They’re bred by a variety of breeders who absolutely love what they do, and so for that reason it was all the more heart-wrenching to ring these breeders up three weeks ago and advise them,” Forrest told ABC Rural News.

Read more about JEV and what some Australian pork producers have to say about this devastating virus.

Mosquito-Borne Virus “Is a Nightmare” For Australian Pig Farmers

Why U.S. Pork Producers Need to Pay Attention to Australia Right Now

Mosquito-Borne Virus Discovered on Australian Pig Farms

SHIC Adds to Preparedness With Updated PTV and JEV Fact Sheets

Japanese Encephalitis Virus Could Happen in U.S. Swine Herds

Mosquito-Borne Virus "Is a Nightmare" For Australian Pig Farmers

Wed, 06 Apr 2022 03:06:40 GMT

An unknown virus moved through David Refalo’s sow herd in New South Wales, Australia, last Christmas. He had 30 piglets die out of 170 total piglets. Tests showed nothing.

“Piglets would lose condition at five days old and die quickly,” says Refalo of Refalo Free Range Pork. “Piglets weren’t responsive to antibiotics. We’ve had two batches since then that were fine, and our last batch had seven sows total abort with some piglets dying at a few days of age.”

Less than an hour away, Paul and Emma Baxter started noticing an increase in stillborns and piglets displaying signs of neurological damage (shaking) during the first week of January at their 200-sow farrow-to-finish operation in west central New South Wales.

“Being the middle of summer in Australia, stillborns aren’t uncommon due to heat so we overlooked it at that point,” says Paul Baxter of Riverdale Farm. “We farrow about 10 sows a week. Since the first week of January, we’ve seen fairly consistent litter losses of three full litters a week (30%).”

It took a long time, but a diagnosis finally came in for both farms: Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV).

“It’s the worst disease or virus I’ve experienced in 19 years of pig farming,” Refalo says. “It reminds you of how fast things can change with livestock.”

What is JEV?

JEV is a flavivrus in the same family as West Nile virus, St. Louis encephalitis virus, and Murray Valley encephalitis virus. The virus is maintained in a cycle between mosquitoes and vertebrate hosts, mainly ardeid birds such as herons, egrets and bitterns. There is spillover of JEV to other species including pigs, humans, horses and other domestic animals. Humans and horses are considered dead-end hosts because they usually do not develop high levels of viremia, while pigs are an amplifying host.

During a Swine Health Information Center webinar, Kirsty Richards, DVM, a veterinarian with SunPork Group in Australia, noted human cases have been diagnosed–with some mortalities–in Australia as well as cases of reproductive and neurological disease in pig herds.

Experts say clinical presentation varies by age and prior exposures in pigs. For adult pigs, it is primarily a reproductive disease, though affected adults may present with a non-specific fever. Sows can exhibit abortion, stillborn, fetal mummification, or subsequent production of weak piglets. Boars exhibit orchitis and infertility. In piglets, non-specific signs and wasting are evident as are neurologic disease and high mortality.

Bernie Gleeson, Richards’ colleague at the SunPork Group, shared in the webinar how aborted litters had fetuses with domed heads, subcutaneous oedema, ascites, and arthrogryposis. Necropsy of aborted piglets revealed the absence of forebrain, hindbrain, and cerebellum. Some affected piglets born alive were shaky with poor survival.

Flooding caused an influx of mosquitoes at Riverdale Farm. Photo by Paul and Emma Baxter.

An Emotional Toll

These heavy losses are tough on a family-run farm with no employees. Baxter says it has taken a toll on his family – emotionally and financially.

“On top of the financial pressures that come with losing 30% of farm turnover and additional restrictions implemented, government departments stopped movements of everything at the start including semen, breeding stock and sale pigs for the first two weeks,” Baxter says. “Picking up around 40 stillborn and mummified piglets a week for 13 weeks gets depressing.”

Shaun Blenkiron, a Hampshire pork producer in South Australia, says his herd has avoided JEV so far because it is very dry around his farm and mosquitoes are at a minimum. There have been around four cases in his state of South Australia, but all have been along the Murray River which is located about one hour from his farm.

“The stories I’ve been told are like nightmares,” Blenkiron says, “You can’t do anything but watch it play out.”

Mosquito control is challenging, Paul Baxter says, especially with flooding and bad weather. Photo by Paul and Emma Baxter.

Can You Keep JEV Out?

As of March 29, more than 50 pig farms across the eastern seaboard of Australia and in South Australia were diagnosed with JEV. As of March 31, the Australian Government/Department of Health reported 34 human cases, 24 confirmed and 10 probable across the same geography in Australia.

The worst part of the JEV outbreak in Australia is that the damage was done before anyone even knew it would be an issue, Refalo says. His advice? Remove any water lying around if possible.

“This is impossible to do if you are experiencing a lot of rain – there’s just not a lot that can be done,” Refalo says.

During the webinar, Richards said Australia is addressing the outbreak with a One Health approach, combining human and animal response protocols. Current activities at infected premises include mosquito trapping and control, vaccination of people working at and residing on those premises, and risk-assessed movement of pigs and semen.

“Our industry leaders are saying biosecurity is key to controlling JEV, but I find it hard to see how we can control mosquitoes over such a large area considering it’s affecting the whole of the eastern states,” Baxter says. “We had quite bad weather and flooding which resulted in a perfect environment for mosquitoes to a level we’ve never seen here before. Other than control measures within the sheds, they were uncontrollable around the entire farm.”

Refalo Free Range Pork operates a free-range pig operation in New South Wales. Photo by David Refalo.

What We Wish We Would Have Known Sooner

Knowing the effects on the sows would’ve been advantageous, Baxter says, as it presented on farm a lot like leptospirosis.

“We naturally thought vaccine breakdowns were the cause and spent a lot of money on retreating our herd for things that were later ruled out,” he says.

Refalo and Baxter both admit it’s frustrating because there’s not a lot that can be done but to stay alert and pay close attention to changes in your herd.

“Use your gut instinct,” Baxter says. “When consulting with my vet, I told him what we were dealing with looked different than anything I’d seen before and unfortunately it was.”

More from Farm Journal’s PORK:

Why U.S. Pork Producers Need to Pay Attention to Australia Right Now

Mosquito-Borne Virus Discovered on Australian Pig Farms

SHIC Adds to Preparedness With Updated PTV and JEV Fact Sheets

Japanese Encephalitis Virus Could Happen in U.S. Swine Herds

Why U.S. Pork Producers Need to Pay Attention to Australia Right Now

Tue, 05 Apr 2022 14:52:47 GMT

The U.S. has the necessary components for Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) transmission – competent insect vectors and susceptible vertebrate maintenance and amplifying hosts, said Leela Noronha of the Foreign Arthropod-Borne Animal Disease Research Unit at USDA’s National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, in Manhattan, Kan.

Concern over this deadly virus is based in part on the precedent set by West Nile virus which grew exponentially since being introduced in 1999, the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) reports.

Insect vectors of JEV are numerous though it is primarily transmitted by Culex spp. mosquitoes. In experimental conditions, a few North American Culex species and others have been shown to be competent insect vectors. Avian hosts of JEV can serve as mobile virus reservoirs which are typically asymptomatic, Noronha said during a webinar hosted by SHIC. Wild and domestic North American species have demonstrated susceptibility experimentally.

JEV-affected swine play an important role in virus amplification. Wild pigs are wildcards that can impact transmission given they represent a rapidly expanding, free-range population of vertebrate hosts.

Keep Watch

If the disease hasn’t been reported yet in the U.S., why all the fuss?

During the webinar, Natalia Cernicchiaro of Kansas State University, shared information on the risk of introduction of JEV in the continental U.S.

She used maps to illustrate the global expansion of JEV from Asia to northern Europe to Africa where competent vectors and hosts exist. This region is susceptible to JEV because the U.S. shares similar climate and environmental conditions with countries where JEV is epidemic and has competent vectors and hosts. Also, there is increased travel and trade from and to JEV-affected regions since World War II. This combined with the fact that there is no active surveillance in U.S. for JEV at this time is notable.

Cernicchiaro and a team of experts conducted a qualitative and quantitative risk assessment addressing the likelihood of JEV reaching the US. This risk assessment addressed:

probability of entry
probability of transmission
probability of establishment
extent of spread
likelihood of persistence
impact of disease

Aircraft and cargo ships emerged as the most likely pathways of introduction for JEV via infected adult mosquitoes in the study, she said. The probability of introduction of JEV through infected adult mosquitoes via aircrafts was deemed very high whereas the probability of entry via ships/containers was considered of low to moderate risk.

“Although the probability of transmission was deemed of variable risk, from low to high, depending on the U.S. area of introduction and the season, under current conditions, the probability of JEV establishment in the U.S. is considered negligible because of the low availability of amplifying hosts (pigs) and the limited contact rates between infected mosquitoes and hosts in airports and seaports, areas at high risk of introduction of infected vectors,” SHIC reports.

Given the study findings, prevention and control should be directed towards the aircraft pathway and include aircraft disinfection in the countries of origin, or when arriving at the destination.

Cernicchiaro also said the study results point to the need for active surveillance programs on the east and west coasts of the U.S.

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Mosquito-Borne Virus Discovered on Australian Pig Farms

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Mosquito-Borne Virus Discovered on Australian Pig Farms

Fri, 04 Mar 2022 16:31:52 GMT

Japanese encephalitis was discovered on multiple Australian pig farms in Queensland state earlier this week. It’s the first time the virus has been detected in southern Australia, Australian Chief Veterinary Officer Mark Schipp said in a statement.

The mosquito-borne disease can cause brain inflammation and has infected at least one person, prompting officials to issue health alerts for people working with pigs and horses, Bloomberg reports.

Although serious sickness from Japanese encephalitis is rare and most people display no symptoms when infected, a small fraction may develop serious illness, the World Health Organization said on its website . There are up to 68,000 clinical cases of Japanese encephalitis detected globally each year, causing as many as 20,400 deaths. Most cases are concentrated in Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific regions, and some outbreaks have resulted in widespread pig culls.

On March 4, Australia’s health department declared the situation a Communicable Disease Incident of National Significance. Work is underway to plan targeted vaccinations in affected areas, with two different vaccines for protection against the virus on offer in Australia, Bloomberg reports.

Pork is safe to eat. There is no risk of transmission from consuming pork, and the disease cannot be spread from human to human.

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Australian Agency Will Not Oppose JBS Acquisition of Pork Processor Rivalea

Fri, 03 Dec 2021 16:45:12 GMT

JBS Australia’s proposed AU$175 million acquisition of pork processor Rivalea Holdings will not be opposed by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

After a review, the ACCC determined the transaction is unlikely to lessen competition substantially in the pork production and processing markets.

Concerns about increased vertical integration were previously expressed, but JBS and Rivalea do not compete closely, according to a release from ACCC .

JBS is Australia’s largest meat and food processing company, processes and supplies fresh pork, value-added pork products and smallgoods such as ham and bacon to wholesalers and retailers in Australia, including through its subsidiary Primo. The company operates one pig abattoir and processing facility in South Australia.

Meanwhile Rivalea processes about a quarter of the nation’s hogs and is the majority owner of the Diamond Valley Pork abattoir and processing facility in Laverton Victoria, and another abattoir and processing facility in Corowa New South Wales, the article said. Rivalea also grows live pigs and supplies fresh pork and value-added pork products to wholesalers and retailers in Australia.

“Although Diamond Valley Pork is a very important asset in the supply chain, we consider that a strategy to foreclose or frustrate access to service kill customers is unlikely as it would create significant commercial risks for JBS, including a loss of throughput and profit at Diamond Valley Pork,” ACCC Deputy Chair Mick Keogh said in the release.

It’s also unlikely that JBS will have the incentive to foreclose or frustrate access to fresh domestic pork for its wholesale and smallgoods competitors, ACCC added.

“Fresh pork can be transported significant distances, so there are alternative places where wholesalers can acquire fresh pork if JBS refuses supply,” Keogh said in the release.

ACCC said it will closely watch trading behavior in the pork industry and will not hesitate to take enforcement action if there is any conduct that breaches the competition or fair trading provisions of the Competition and Consumer Act.

The deal continues to await approval from Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board.

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Aussie Cattle Ranchers Boost Exports to China Ahead of Pork Shortage

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:25:18 GMT

Scott de Bruin’s Wagyu cattle ranch and China might be 4,500 miles apart, but the Australian beef producer has seldom been better connected to his biggest market.

Orders for de Bruin’s luxuriously fatty steaks from Chinese customers, which include the Nest in Shanghai’s historic Puxi district and Beijing’s Park Hyatt, jumped 50% in May from the year before, he said. Sales have been buoyed by the outbreak of African swine fever in the world’s biggest hog-growing country that started last year. It’s pushed up pork prices and boosted demand for alternative meats.

“It’s our fastest growing market, without a doubt,” said de Bruin, whose 3,050-hectare (7,500-acre) Mayura station at Millicent in South Australia, raises some 8,500 full-blood Wagyu cattle.

While China’s pig supplies tumble in the wake of the contagious swine epidemic, its imports of pork, beef, seafood, poultry and sheep meat from suppliers from Brazil to New Zealand are booming. Beef imports eclipsed 1 million metric tons last year, making China the world’s largest market ; it was already the world’s top destination for mutton and lamb.

The disease, which isn’t known to harm humans, is predicted to slash China’s pig supply by 20-30% this year and lead to pig-meat shortages.

“African swine fever will be the biggest influence on global meat markets possibly for the next few years, if not possibly the decade,” Tim Ryan, a Singapore-based market analyst with trade group Meat & Livestock Australia, said in a phone interview. “I don’t think there’s going to be enough meat around the world available to actually fill the gap.”

Pork imports -- which mostly come from the European Union, Canada and Brazil -- may surge 40% to 1.7 million tons this year, before increasing to 2.1 million tons in 2020, the China Daily newspaper reported last month, citing a report from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in Beijing.

Brazil’s pork exports to China may climb 61% to 250,000 tons this year, Adolfo Fontes, an analyst at Rabobank, said this month.

Supplies Slashed

The reduction this year in China’s hog supplies may exceed 30%, Jack C. Bendheim, chairman and chief executive officer of Teaneck, New Jersey-based Phibro Animal Health Corp. , told analysts on a May 7 earnings call .

“I have made multiple trips to China over the last few months in order to better understand the impact of African swine fever,” Bendheim said. “The impact on the worldwide protein markets of the loss of 200 million-plus pigs in China is just beginning to be understood.”

The drop in meat supply is the largest “in recent memory,” Gregory A. Heckman, CEO of Bunge Ltd. , a White Plains, New York-based agricultural trading house, told analysts on its earnings call earlier this month. “The decline is equal to the entire U.S. swine herd and the full impact of this disease remains to be seen.”

Imported pork and poultry will be the most popular substitutes for locally produced pig meat, said Don Mackay, chairman of the Red Meat Advisory Council, an Australian industry group, and a former CEO of rancher Australian Agricultural Co. The cost of premium Australian beef, which may be five or six times as expensive as pork, will limit its demand in China, Meat & Livestock Australia’s Tim Ryan said.

Retail prices for beef averaged 65.14 yuan a kilogram last year, according to China’s Agricultural and Rural Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Bureau. That compares with 19.19 yuan/kg for chicken, 22.47 yuan/kg for pork and sheepmeat at 62.34 yuan/kg.

Sales of Australian beef to China jumped 66% to 72,460 tons in the first four months of 2019, while Brazilian shipments have risen 14% to 95,700 tons. China’s total imports have increased an average of almost 90% a year since 2009, driven by rising demand from middle-class consumers, and have accelerated since the first cases of African swine fever were reported last August.

“It’s huge,” said David Blackmore, who produces Wagyu beef in Australia’s Victoria state for upscale restaurants in Australia, China and 13 other overseas countries. “We ain’t seen nothing yet from a world point of view.”

Wagyu is the Japanese beef breed renowned for producing ultra-high levels of intramuscular fat, or marbling. Japan has been banned from exporting beef to China since 2001, when the first Japanese case of mad cow disease was detected.

China has emerged as a major buyer of lower-quality cuts of Australian beef, including forequarters and trimmings. Blackmore recently doubled the price for lesser cuts and still “can’t keep up” with demand, he said.

Australia’s cattle supplies aren’t likely to increase any time soon, Blackmore said, especially after recent rainfall in the south spurred pasture growth. That’s helped push prices on the benchmark Eastern Young Cattle Indicator up more than 20% from their low in March.

La Nina Fades Away

Thu, 19 Nov 2020 03:00:55 GMT

(Bloomberg) -- The shortest La Nina in almost a decade has ended, just three months after it began.

Sea surface temperatures have warmed steadily since December and are now in the neutral range, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology said in a statement on Tuesday. Most models indicate a neutral pattern will persist into the Southern Hemisphere autumn and winter, it said.

La Ninas happen when the Pacific’s surface cools and the atmosphere above it reacts, disrupting weather patterns around the world. The most recent event dried out fields from Kansas to Texas and parched soy crops in parts of Argentina. While the weak and short-lived La Nina had relatively little effect on Australian rainfall over the past summer, previous patterns have brought flooding rain to the country’s coal-mining regions and inundated farmland.

The U.S. last week said there’s a 62 percent chance the Pacific Ocean would return to a neutral phase between April and June. Researchers have detected warmer water building below the ocean’s surface, according to the Climate Prediction Center.

The latest La Nina was the shortest since 2008-09, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, citing records dating back to 1980. The Pacific Ocean slowly swings between three states, running from cold to normal to warm.

Copyright 2018, Bloomberg News

First Thing Today: Meteorologists Call for Active Hurricane Season

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 04:15:13 GMT

Good morning!

Quiet overnight session... Corn futures are fractionally to a penny higher after trading in a narrow, two-sided trading range overnight. Soybean futures are mostly down 2 cents, which is off session lows. Winter wheat futures are mixed, while spring wheat is up a penny. The U.S. dollar index is slightly lower, as are crude oil futures.

Meteorologists call for active hurricane season... There is a 70% chance of seeing between 11 and 17 named tropical storms for this year’s Atlantic hurricane season, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center said yesterday. This would be more such storms than normal for the six-month period that begins June 1. Ben Friedman, acting NOAA administrator, details that five to nine of the storms could become hurricanes, including two to four major ones with winds of at least 111 miles per hour. In a normal season, there is typically an average of 12 tropical storms and six hurricanes, including three major ones.

Australia shipping grain at a record clip... Australia has been shipping a record volume of grain this year, thanks to record- to near-record crops that have pushed down prices. For the first five months of the year, wheat, canola and barley exports of 17.2 MMT are up 60% from normal, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon data. Thanks to aggressive exports, industry sources believe the country will still be left with just 5 MMT to 6 MMT of wheat at the end of the marketing year, which would be similar to last year’s stocks. But looking ahead to the second half of 2017, competition from the Black Sea region is expected to heighten as big crops from Russia and Ukraine move into position.

Report notes major growth potential for U.S. exports to China... China would like to increase imports of ag products like soybeans and cotton from the U.S. and speed up talks on traceability, inspection and quarantine for U.S. beef to enter China, according to a report on China-U.S. Economic and Trade relations issued by its ministry of commerce. It called for China’s total imports from the U.S. to reach $8 trillion in the next five years.

Chinese users continue to aggressively scoop up corn at auctions... China sold 233,660 MT of the 2011 and 2012 crop corn it put up for auction from its state reserves at an average price of 1,155 yuan ($168.34) per metric ton. This represents 94.75% of the grain available for those years at the auction. China also sold more than 2.103 MMT of 2013 crop corn at the auction, which was 91.47% of what was available for that year. That grain sold at an average price of 1,383 yuan ($201.57) per metric ton.

China may change how it calculates the daily reference rate for the yuan... China is considering changes to the way it calculates the yuan’s daily reference rate, adding a “counter cyclical factor” to the fixing, in a move that would be designed to reduce exchange-rate volatility. The measures seem to suggest that policy makers are going cold on the idea of an eventual float of the currency, with officials more interested in avoiding turmoil in domestic markets than embracing free-market principles.

Accident leads to temporary closure of ADM export terminal... Archer Daniels Midland Co.'s grain export terminal in Ama, Louisiana had to be closed Thursday after a barge-mounted crane hit a conveyer belt system, causing damage. ADM is working to shift export operations to its other three terminals along the Louisiana Gulf Coast while damage is assessed and repaired.

Cattle on Feed expected to show all major categories up from year-ago... In its Cattle on Feed Report, traders expect USDA to report the number of cattle on feed stood near 10.864 million head as of May 1, up 0.8% from year-ago. Placements are expected to come in around 106.8% of year-ago levels, with marketings at 101.8% of last year’s levels. Note that the report will be released early -- at 11:00 a.m. CT.

Cash cattle trade picks up... Cattle futures posted strong gains Thursday as traders noted the wide discount futures hold to some early, lower cash cattle trade. More active trade took place in Kansas around $132, in Nebraska at $133 and in Iowa at prices ranging from $130 to $134 yesterday, which is still well above where futures are trading.

Trend remains up in hog market... Cash hog bids strengthened yesterday, giving traders a reason to push futures higher. While the market is technically overbought, momentum clearly remains on the side of market bulls. And traders are optimistic cash market strength will continue after Memorial Day given seasonally tightening supplies, strong packer profit margins and ideas retailers will feature pork after the holiday.

Overnight demand news... A group of animal feed makers in the Philippines issued an international tender to buy up to 50,000 MT of soymeal from South America. South Korea bought around 65,000 MT of feed wheat from optional origins, which is expected to be sourced mainly from the Black Sea region. Japan purchased 79,930 MT of food-quality wheat from the U.S. as well as 37,870 MT from Australia.

Today’s reports:

11:00 a.m., Cattle on Feed -- NASS