It is Friday in late September as I sit here writing this article. The kind folks from JSHAP have been reminding me for 3 weeks now to get this done so they can wrap up the November/ December issue and send it off to the printer. As I was pondering what to write this month, it occurred to me that this is the 97th article I have written for JSHAP. I have to tell you that after that many articles, it is becoming difficult to find something new to write about, so I won’t even try.
African swine fever (ASF). It’s still the topic that occupies much of my time. As you know, the virus is now in the Western Hemisphere for the first time in 40 years. There is still no vaccine available. The AASV, in collaboration with National Pork Board (NPB), National Pork Producers Council, and Swine Health Information Center (SHIC), continues to work diligently with our industry partners, regulators, and legislators to focus on preventing the introduction of ASF into the North American swine herd. I am comfortable saying we are better prepared than we have ever been while acknowledging that we are not as prepared as we would like to be.
In 2019, during a pre-dinner gathering of our industry friends, I raised the idea that it might be worthwhile to have a third party take a look at our national biosecurity safeguards and identify potential risk factors associated with the introduction of ASF into the United States. After further discussion, NPB and SHIC agreed to fund a study conducted by Epix Analytics to do just that. Epix recently completed that study and has presented the results. This was a very comprehensive examination of potential routes of introduction and dissemination of the ASF virus.
The study looked at eight pathways of introduction including legal and illegal importation of live swine, illegal importation of pork products, importation of feed and feed ingredients, international travelers, fomites associated with international movements, feral swine, and intentional or accidental release of the virus. The researchers identified 6 susceptible swine populations at risk in the United States: commercial herds, show pigs, outdoor farms, feral pigs, pet pigs, and zoos. They evaluated the routes by which each of these populations could be exposed to the ASF virus and then considered three types of actions (short-term mitigations, education, and research/development) that could be implemented to address each of the identified biosecurity gaps.
Suffice to say, I was encouraged and somewhat disappointed. Encouraged in that they did not identify any routes of introduction that we had not already considered and that were not already being addressed or discussed. Although, I was hoping they might identify something we had not thought about so we could start addressing that gap as well. Given this is the 20th anniversary of September 11th, I could not help but think about how we had failed to recognize the threat of using planes to attack our country or how feed ingredients had been the vehicle by which porcine epidemic diarrhea virus had entered our pig herd. The study, however, was well done and has value in that it was a third party look at our industry safeguards. That process offers some validation that we are working on the right challenges while keeping our eyes out for the unexpected.
The other thing keeping me busy (and, when I say “me”, I mean Sue) these days is planning for the 2022 AASV Annual Meeting in Indianapolis. We are looking forward to once again getting together and having an in-person meeting. I have missed all you guys! As we plan the meeting, we are continuing to monitor COVID-19 and any federal, state, or local restrictions and guidelines that might force us to change our plans. We want to ensure, to the best of our ability, that everyone has a safe, enjoyable, and productive meeting. To that end, we will be following any public health guidelines regarding vaccination, social distancing, and masking. I hope you will join us February 26 – March 1, 2022 at the JW Marriott Indianapolis for the 53rd AASV Annual Meeting.
As I was wrapping this up, I looked up at the wall in front of my desk. The only thing hanging on that wall is a calendar. I just noticed that I have not changed the calendar in three months. I flipped the calendar over to September and that is when I found inspiration: today, September 24, 2021, is National Punctuation Day! And, on a Friday no less! What better way to end a week? Period! Go ahead, celebrate. Use that extra exclamation point!!
Harry Snelson, DVM
Executive Director