Cooperation, Coordination, Communication, Key to ASF Preparedness

The Swine Health Information Center credits sector wide cooperation for helping the North American pork industry prepare for and defend against African Swine Fever

By Bruce Cochrane – FarmScape Online

“ASF Research: An Update from the USA” was discussed last week as part of a Swine Innovation Pork seminar on African Swine Fever preparedness.

Swine Health Information Center Executive Director Dr. Paul Sundberg says the Canadian Pork Council, the provincial pork councils, Swine Innovation Pork, the National Pork Board, the National Pork Producers Council, the American Association of Swine Veterinarians and the Swine Health Information Center have all been working closely together.

“Those folks at CFIA and USDA are talking to each other, they’re working together and it’s a really good thing that we have this coordination“

“We are all communicating about emerging disease, a focus for SHIC, as well as African Swine Fever so there is coordination of communications and research priorities among the organizations.

“When you get to the activities at the government level, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is work together with USDA on a number of different ASF project, projects that look at the ability to use collection of alternative samples for surveillance, including things like oral fluids, blood spots, lymph nodes, a number of different things that we can do to investigate alternative samples that can help us with surveillance.

“As well they’re working on experimental investigations into different strain infections and how they act in the pigs.

“Also, I know they’re working on different vaccine issues as well.
There’s a variety of different governmental research projects that are going on.

“Those folks at CFIA and USDA are talking to each other, they’re working together and it’s a really good thing that we have this coordination that’s helping us be prepared to respond if the virus gets here.

Dr. Sundberg says it’s a fluid situation and stakeholders are doing the best job that can be done to coordinate efforts and be ready.

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