Category Archives: Foreign Animal Disease

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agriculture specialists intercepted three shipments containing dangerous prohibited items at an Express Consignment Operations (ECO) hub near Minneapolis – Saint Paul International Airport (MSP).

African swine fever (ASF) fatigue is real, says Patrick Webb, assistant chief veterinarian at the National Pork Board. Since ASF rocked China in 2018, U.S. pork producers have been bombarded with messages to do their part to protect the country from this deadly virus of pigs.

Survey findings present the current status quo of US SHIP participants.

The Swine Medicine Education Center will hold four, two-day training sessions for the Certified Swine Sample Collector program. These trainings will be geared toward individuals with limited swine experience and will include visits to breeding and grow-finish facilities.

Following detection of African swine fever in the Caribbean in 2021, USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service further increased efforts to protect US swine from the transboundary disease. Two outreach campaigns designed to increase awareness were launched. The Swine Health Information Center appreciates their work to target international travelers as well as pork producers, veterinarians, and pig owners. The following overview of activities was provided by APHIS.

Since African swine fever (ASF) struck the island of Hispaniola in 2021, Amy Delgado, DVM, has been deployed five times to the Dominican Republic (DR) and twice to Haiti to support the USDA’s response to this ASF outbreak.

SHIC, along with the National Pork Board, National Pork Producers Council, and American Association of Swine Veterinarians, has been working with U.S. Customs and Border Protection on efforts to prevent entry of foreign animal disease vectors to the US through screening and awareness. CBP Office of Field Operations, Acting Executive Director Dina Amato shares that “as part of our enduring mission priorities, CBP is responsible for facilitating lawful trade and protecting revenue, which relies on enhancing public and private partnerships that are integral elements of the agriculture safeguarding continuum.” As part of the ongoing process, CBP has recently launched a Public Interdiction Reporting Dashboard.

Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister David Marit has announced $700,000 in funding to support swine disease mitigation efforts. Sask Pork will also be providing $300,000 toward a swine market disruption plan, which will help industry respond to potential market closures due to an animal health emergency event such as African swine fever.

Pig and horse owners in Australia are urged to protect their animals from mosquito-borne illnesses this summer after recent heavy rain and flooding. Victoria’s Chief Veterinary Officer Graeme Cooke said bite prevention and mosquito control are key to keeping animals free from mosquito-borne diseases including Japanese encephalitis, Ross River fever, Murray Valley encephalitis and West Nile virus (Kunjin strain).

North American pork producers are being encouraged to consider adding insect control to their biosecurity programs to mitigate losses from insect bites and to reduce the risk of spreading diseases, such as Japanese Encephalitis.