When I was in practice at Carroll’s Foods back in the dark ages, the CEO would stop me in the hall at least once a week and ask, “How are the pigs today?” At that time, Carroll’s had over 170,000 sows and their offspring spread across multiple states and two continents. There is no 30-second elevator answer for that question. These days, I am often asked about what the American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) is doing to address the threat of African swine fever (ASF). It is a similarly hard question to answer, but it seems like it takes up about 75% of my workday.
As you might imagine, we work very closely with the National Pork Board (NPB), the National Pork Producers Council, and the Swine Health Information Center to address this issue. In addition, we also collaborate with federal and state animal health officials, researchers, and allied industry groups (eg, groups representing processing facilities and feed manufacturers). Outbreak prevention and response must be a collaborative effort between regulators and the industry. The ASF threat touches more than just swine health. Preventing, diagnosing, and responding to an outbreak also involve processing, feed manufacturing, feed ingredients, rendering, access to international markets, animal movements, consumer perceptions, and the list goes on.
Dr Liz Wagstrom recently put together a list of groups and projects we have been and continue to be involved in to address the ASF challenge. With her permission, I have modified and summarized that list below to highlight those activities in which AASV is actively involved. There are additional technical efforts going on to address specific pieces of the puzzle that do not directly involve AASV.
US Department of Agriculture led groups
- Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service ASF Technical Working Group
Mission: This 12-member working group serves as a resource for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s (APHIS) ASF planning team to share their thinking and get feedback from members so we can identify what response strategies will work well and where APHIS may need to adapt. - APHIS ASF Packer Technical Working Group:
Mission:- Identify gaps that will impact slaughter plant operations and define concept of operations for slaughter plant facilities in an ASF outbreak (in free areas and control zones). This includes utilizing the hot wash questions developed by industry following the recent packing plant policy workshop.
- Operationalize solutions such as establish standards, draft guidance, create templates, and update the Red Book. Emphasis is placed on policy and operational solutions.
- Determine roles and responsibilities between the state and federal government and slaughter and rendering facilities and identify gaps, solutions, and critical barriers.
- Support and coordinate APHIS response to industry business continuity efforts:
- Industry preparedness checklist based on state and federal government guidance.
- Outline plant activities needed for implementation within the initial 72 hours post ASF detection in the United States.
- Coordinate activities of the working group with workshops or exercises and translate lessons learned into policy where appropriate.
- Help share education, outreach, and training resources both internally and externally.
- Regularly update the APHIS ASF Technical Working Group to ensure continued coordination and collaboration.
- North American Swine Health Working Group
Mission: The group reports to the Chief Veterinary Officers of Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Participants share technical information on animal health programs and processes related to the prevention, preparedness, control, and recovery of disease incursions in domestic swine, and the risks of certain swine diseases such as ASF and classical swine fever (CSF).
US Department of Agriculture funded projects
- Swine Health Improvement Plan pilot program
Objective: Develop and implement an ASF and CSF monitored certification program modelled after the basic tenets of the NPIP H5/H7 Avian Influenza Monitored Certification of the US commercial poultry industry. - Swine depopulation resources
Objective: Funded by US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program (NADPRP), this project aims to utilize the swine industry’s recent experiences to provide further education and resources for swine veterinarians and farmers to build and improve capabilities and capacities for responding to future emergency events that require depopulation by:- Conducting interviews with individuals who have depopulated swine to gather and compile data on setup, implementation, and efficacy of swine depopulation methods.
- Building from the survey results and American Veterinary Medical Association’s depopulation guidelines, develop swine-specific recommendations for practical implementation of depopulation methods.
- Developing supplemental education resources, including depopulation method decision making tools, equipment lists, recordkeeping forms, and team debriefing tools, to assist swine veterinarians and farmers before and after the depopulation event occurs.
- Foreign Animal Disease Capacity Building Objectives: Funded by a grant from
USDA NADPRP, this project will develop, pilot, and implement two national training programs to help build
personnel capacity and increase efficiency during a foreign animal disease (FAD) outbreak.
- An on-farm immersion course that will provide hands-on training for FAD diagnosticians and other animal agriculture sector responders. Two pilot courses will be offered in summer and fall 2021.
- Certified Swine Sample Collector training program will allow production field staff, producers, barn managers, and others that many swine-focused veterinarians already rely on for diagnostic sample collection to become an asset to assist in diagnostic sample collection and submission during an FAD response. The curriculum and resources will be used by category II accredited veterinarians for pig producers and pig industry personnel. Program standards and resources to be released by July for trainings to begin.
State animal health organization led groups
- Fifteen-State Animal Health Official Group
Mission: Coordinate preparedness and response strategies between the top swine state animal health officials. - US Animal Health Association Sampling and Testing group
Mission: Evaluate ASF surveillance plans (pre-outbreak for early detection, post outbreak in surveillance zones and free areas, and premovement during an outbreak). Determining the type, number, and timing of tests needed to move swine safely and confidently within and from a Control Area. Secondary objectives are to determine if those protocols could be applicable to CSF and foot-and-mouth disease and developing protocols to release an infected farm from quarantine.
Packer Business Continuity Group
Mission: to develop a business continuity plan by which individual packers working with their suppliers could provide assurance of an ASF negative product to trading partners in the event of an ASF outbreak.
Pork producer organization led groups
- NPB ASF Working Group
Mission: To review and act on strategic health issues, particularly ASF, which may affect the productivity of swine herds and global trade issues. To provide recommendations to the National Swine Disease Council to maintain and improve swine herd health. To identify, prioritize, review, and allocate Checkoff dollars for proposed research projects, determining outreach and educational priorities for producers, and establishing positions regarding ASF and other FADs to represent the best interest of the pork industry. - National Swine Disease Council
Mission: To guide, develop and advocate for actions and policies for implementation across the pork chain to prevent, prepare for, and respond to threats to the US pork industry from diseases of concern. - NPB Surveillance Working Group
Mission: To support disease surveillance efforts for the US pork industry by determining research priorities, providing input into training programs, and evaluating current surveillance efforts. - Feed Risk Task Force
Mission: Evaluate the risk of introduction of pathogens into and within the United States via imported feed products and help decide what actions need to be taken to protect the US pork industry from that risk. Actions should be achievable, based on science, and minimize trade disruptions. The discussions will inform stakeholders about issues related to risk from feed and give participants the opportunity to identify existing scientific data gaps around various risk mitigation efforts.
I hope this highlights the fact that preventing and responding to a potential ASF outbreak is a multifaceted and collaborative effort. There is a lot going on behind the scenes. We are more prepared today than we ever have been, but we will never be fully prepared. As Dwight D. Eisenhower said, “Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.” And, in case you are wondering, my response to the CEO who asked, “How are the pigs today?” was “Now is not the time to fire your veterinarian!”
Harry Snelson, DVM
Executive Director