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APHIS Reopens Comment Period on Request to Produce FMD Vaccine on U.S. Mainland

In July 2020, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) sought public comment on a petition from a vaccine manufacturer seeking approval to produce foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccine consisting of a modified non-infectious and non-transmissible strain of the virus on the U.S. mainland. Today, APHIS is reopening the comment period for this petition for an additional 30 days. [Source: USDA 1 December 2020]

Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Iowa State University Produce Video to Help Livestock Producers Respond to a Foreign Animal Disease

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig announced today that the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, in conjunction with Iowa State University, has developed a video showing livestock producers how to set up a vehicle cleaning and disinfection corridor to protect their farms, and neighboring farms, during a foreign animal disease outbreak. This is one of many steps the Department is taking to help Iowa livestock producers prepare for a potential foreign animal disease outbreak. [Source: IDALS 1 December 2020]

African Swine Fever Project in Vietnam Progresses Despite COVID-19 Pandemic

In 2019, the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC), with active support from the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), received a grant from USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service division to fund a multi-phase project including African swine fever (ASF) field projects in Vietnam during the outbreak there. Objectives of these researchable priorities are helping Vietnamese response and recovery from the ASF epidemic as well as helping US pork producers learn lessons about ASF epidemiology and management. Despite challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, progress continues on each of the related projects.

SHIC-Funded Global Swine Disease Monitoring Report Delivers Near-Real Time Disease Info

The US pork industry remains vulnerable to the introduction of a variety of foreign animal and production diseases. The Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) recognized the importance of developing systems to provide international situational awareness in near-real time for these pathogens, and funded a near real-time Global Swine Disease Monitoring Report (GSDMR) system to collect and disseminate this information. In particular, the project has tracked the expansion of African swine fever (ASF) through Asia and Europe. And a new “Focus on…” section will raise awareness about specific international swine disease risks. The GSDMR project was recently reviewed by SHIC and funding renewed so it will continue through 2021.

FAO, OIE Kick Off Initiative to Stop the Spread of African Swine Fever

As African swine fever marches swiftly across countries affecting food security and livelihoods of some of the world’s most vulnerable populations, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Organization for Animal Health are calling on all nations and partners to join forces to keep this deadly pig disease at bay under a new initiative. [Source: National Hog Farmer, FAO, OIE, 26 October 2020]