New vaccine development work at Kansas State University may soon help confront African swine fever, a disease that is endemic in sub-Saharan Africa. It has spread to different regions of Europe and Asia, causing devastating losses worth billions of dollars in China, Vietnam and other surrounding countries where pork is the most popular food item. [Source: Kansas State University 16 July 2020]
Category Archives: Foreign Animal Disease
Foreign Animal Disease Preparation Bulletin
Read the latest 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.
Veterinary Researcher Demonstrates How Additives Can Help Mitigate Risk of African Swine Fever Transmission Through Feed
New research at Kansas State University is demonstrating that the risk of spreading a deadly animal virus through feed can be effectively reduced through the use of different feed additives. [Source: Kansas State University 6 July 2020]
CBP Intercepts Nearly 20,000 pounds of Smuggled Animal Products from China at LA/LB Seaport
In just few weeks, from April 6 to June 6, U. S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agriculture specialists assigned to the LA/Long Beach Seaport, intercepted 19,555 pounds of prohibited pork, chicken, beef and duck products arriving from China. [Source: CBP 19 June 2020]
Foreign Animal Disease Preparation Bulletin
Read the latest 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.
SHIC Grant Funds Research into Potential Role of Rodents as ASF Vectors in Vietnam
The Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) continues to share details on African swine fever (ASF) management and control research taking place in Vietnam, made possible by a USDA-Foreign Agricultural Service grant received in 2019. Lessons from this study and others will be valuable if ASF enters the US. In a project led by staff from South Dakota State University and the Vietnam National University of Agriculture, it will be determined if ASF virus can be detected in mice and rats, a potential threat of transmission.
Plum Island Patent-pending Process Breakthrough for FMD Vaccine
Technology will allow foot-and-mouth disease vaccine manufacturing in the United States because it does not require the use of live FMDV for vaccine production. [Source: National Hog Farmer 10 June 2020]
SHIC Enables Test-and-Remove ASF Protocol Study in Vietnam
The Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) is pleased to announce an additional study on African swine fever (ASF) management and control taking place in Vietnam, made possible by a USDA-Foreign Animal Service grant received in 2019. Lessons from this study and others will be valuable if ASF enters the US. This project is validating protocols for targeted removal of individually housed sows when infected with ASF to move the herd to negative status, one of the many research proposals being funded by the USDA FAS grant received by SHIC, or with the cooperation of the National Pork Board in an effort to gain ASF information. The test-and-remove protocol is based on the premise that ASF, although highly infectious, has relatively slow transmission.
Increasing Biosecurity? Don’t Forget to Manage Feed Ingredients
Feed mills, nutritionists and producers alike worked to better understand the potential of feed ingredients to serve as a fomite after the arrival of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDv) into the U.S. in 2013. Since that time, multiple researchers have documented the potential for ingredients to transport viruses such as PEDv and African swine fever (ASF) as well as potential mitigation steps that can be taken to reduce this risk. However, with these different programs, there can be potential nutritional challenges that must be understood. [Source: Farm Journal’s Pork 26 May 2020, by Laura Griener]
Time and Temp for Inactivation of ASF Virus Studied with SHIC Vietnam ASF Grant Funds
A project to determine the time and temperature for complete inactivation of the African swine fever (ASF) virus is underway, funded by The Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) using proceeds from a $1.7 million USDA Foreign Agricultural Service grant awarded last fall. The goal is gathering as much information on ASF management and control as possible to benefit both US and Vietnamese pork producers. Researchers from the University of Nebraska and Vietnam National University of Agriculture looking at the time and temperature for ASF virus inactivation are specifically looking at aluminum surfaces contaminated with organic materials. The research will simulate the sanitation protocols currently used to disinfect animal trailers under three conditions: