Farmscape for October 8, 2021
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For the first time in 37 years, African Swine Fever has been confirmed in Haiti. As part of its October enewsletter, the Swine Health Information Center has updated the African Swine Fever situation in the Caribbean and efforts by USDA to help contain the infection.
SHIC Executive Director Dr. Paul Sundberg says both the Dominican Republic and Haiti have asked for help in surveillance and USDA has been testing samples sent to its Foreign Animal Disease lab on Plumb Island.
Clip-Dr. Paul Sundberg-Swine Health Information Center:
The Dominican Republic is in the process of responding to ASF in their country. They have asked USDA for that surveillance help.
USDA has currently set up, with the Dominican Republic in partnership with the DR, a laboratory in the DR for quick diagnostics of African Swine Fever and that’s a big step to help their response efforts within the country. USDA has also offered the same to Haiti.
Haiti is sending some samples to the Plumb Island diagnostic lab as well. It amounts to an issue of offering assistance to those two countries for their diagnostics, for their response and for their recovery. Of note, Puerto Rico is still negative and it has been negative for example for Classical Swine Fever for a long time even though the CFS virus has been endemic on the Dominican Republic. Classical Swine Fever and African Swine Fever are very closely related and we’ve done a good job. USDA and Customs and Border Protection have done a very good job in keeping Classical Swine Fever out of Puerto Rico even though it’s been in the Dominican Republic.
Dr. Sundberg notes, while the risk to North America stays the same, with more of the virus in the western hemisphere, the pressure increases.
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