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African Swine Fever Outbreak Could Devastate U.S. Swine Industry
USAgNet - 04/16/2019

African Swine Fever has been in the news recently as a result of an outbreak in China. It is a major health threat to swine production in many countries, but fortunately it is not in the United States.

ASF is a highly contagious viral disease that causes death in domestic and wild pigs of all ages. Symptoms include high fever, decreased appetite and weakness, red, blotchy skin or skin lesions; diarrhea and vomiting; and coughing and difficulty in breathing. Mortality rate is as high as 100% within 2-10 days.

The disease is spread from hog to hog via body fluids and some ticks as well as feeding uncooked leftovers or by traveling from an infected farm to an uninfected one. It is not a threat to human health and cannot be transmitted from pigs to humans and it is not a food safety issue for people.

ASF was first identified Africa in the 1920s. In 1957, it was found in Portugal after pigs were fed leftovers from airplanes from a nearby airport containing infected pork. Smaller outbreaks have occurred in other European and Caribbean countries since then. In 2007, it was reported in the Republic of Georgia and then China in 2018. In 2019, it has been reported in Mongolia, Vietnam and Japan (in March). Since there is no treatment or vaccine for ASF, the only option to reduce its spread is depopulation of sick or infected animals.

USDA’s Agricultural Research Service began to research it in the 1970s. In the 1990s, they began focusing on the genome of the virus (containing about 150 genes) to determine which genes might cause the sickness and keep them from activating the disease. Then they could then create a live attenuated vaccine, like the vaccines for measles, polio and smallpox in humans.

That program was slowed by lack of funding in 2004 but has recently been revived with assistance from the Department of Homeland Security. In the meantime, since there is no vaccine, producers should practice good biosecurity management by restricting movement of hogs and people on and off their locations.

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