Category Archives: Foreign Animal Disease

Two more cases of African swine fever (ASF) have been confirmed in wild boars in the eastern German state of Brandenburg, with one found outside the area of the first discoveries, the federal agriculture ministry said on Wednesday. [Source: CGTN 30 Sept 2020]

A further five cases of African swine fever (ASF) are suspected in wild boar in the German state of Brandenburg, close to the border with Poland. This follows the discovery of ASF for the first time in Germany in a dead wild boar in a field of harvested crops in the state last week. [Source: PigWorld 15 September 2020, by Alistair Driver]

A new foreign animal disease surveillance effort will help speed up the detection of African Swine Fever should it arrive in Canada. [Source: Farmscape 8 September 2020]

The European Food Safety Authority has begun a major campaign to raise awareness and help halt the spread of African swine fever in southeast Europe. [Source: National Hog Farmer, EFSA 31 August 2020]

Availability of a highly sensitive and specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based diagnostic assay for rapid differential detection of pseudorabies virus (PRV) variants, such as those now endemic in China, is critical to prevent huge economic losses to the US and Canadian pork industries if these strains enter North America and cause an outbreak. A single-tube triplex real-time-PCR assay for differential detection of variant strains of PRV has been developed and evaluated in a project funded by the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) and Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). The triplex real-time PCR assay developed in this project could be used as a rapid diagnostic tool for foreign animal disease detection in North America or for surveillance and in epidemiological studies in countries, like China, where both classical and variant strains are endemic. The assay is also able to differentiate wild-type PRV from the gE-deletion PRV mutant marker vaccines.

Read the latest https://mailchi.mp/pork/fad-preparation-bulletin-june-26-952445?e=0dff5b0fab Foreign Animal Disease Preparation Bulletin brought to you by the Pork Checkoff, in collaboration with the National Pork Producers Council, Swine Health Information Center, USDA, and AASV.

Scientists from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) have identified a new way to detect the presence of live African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV) that minimizes the need for samples from live animals and provides easier access to veterinary labs that need to diagnose the virus. [Source: USDA ARS 28 July 2020]

Recent unpublished, observational research indicates oral fluids (OF), when collected by rope as an aggregate sample, could be a good sample for rapid detection of African swine fever virus (ASFv). However this experimental data also suggests that there is potential for false negative testing results. Therefore, the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) is calling for proposals to develop methods to improve the detection of low levels of nucleic acid in OF through enhancements to sample pre-extraction treatment(s) or through improved extraction methodologies compatible with the high throughput testing currently done in NAHLN laboratories.

The common practice of artificial insemination (AI) in pork production often involves outside equipment, specialized crews, and off-site boar studs. Because AI has been linked to the spread of several pig disease outbreaks, the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) is using USDA-FAS grant funds to sponsor research in Vietnam on the risk of introducing African swine fever (ASF) via this route. Specifically, the study will examine potential introduction of ASF to a sow farm as a result of semen movement from apparently healthy boar studs located in an ASF disease control area. Conducted by a team from the University of Minnesota with academic partners from the Vietnam National University of Agriculture, the study will include a pro-active risk assessment (RA) systematically evaluating the potential risk of semen movements during an outbreak. Resulting information will help the US swine industry continue to prepare for foreign animal disease issues as well as implement science-based prevention protocols.

The escalation of the spread of African swine fever (ASF) has placed most of the world’s domestic and wild pig populations under direct threat. To support countries’ efforts to protect economies and food security, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) today launch a joint initiative for the Global Control of ASF. [Source: OIE 20 July 2020]