With new cases of African Swine Fever (ASF) breaking out in Southeast Asia and China, the United States has given a grant to the Swine Health Information Center to start a dialogue between the two regions on how to prevent the disease from spreading more.
According to a release from the United Pork Producers Council, the $1.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Animal Service division will fund the multi-phase project, helping to build strategic partnerships, while increasing trade of U.S. pork to the region.
“Pork production is a global business and working with industry representatives from Vietnam on these projects will be mutually beneficial for all,” said SHIC Executive Director Paul Sundberg, DVM, PhD, DACVPM. “The Swine Health Information Center looks forward to fulfilling the responsibilities of this grant from USDA and in the process deliver value to U.S. producers for the benefit of national herd health.”
The plan is to train the Vietnamese veterinary workforce to prevent and control ASF thus allowing them to pass off helpful information to the U.S. pork industry on what was effective.
The grant also hopes to identify pathways for viral entry on farms, validate use of swine oral fluids to confirm farm or region positive or negative status, explore the potential to isolate the virus on one area of a farm, validate cleaning and disinfecting procedures so farms may be repopulated as soon as it is safe and assess cross-border risks and risk management of transboundary swine diseases.
ASF poses no safety risk to humans.