Are You Ready for Foreign Animal Disease?

Patrick Webb, DVM, Assistant Chief Veterinarian, National Pork Board provides advice to keep swine herds safe from foreign diseases.

By Patrick Webb, DVM, Assistant Chief Veterinarian, National Pork Board

If you’re a pork producer in 2022, you’re well aware of ongoing issues and challenges that face your operation and your industry. Unfortunately, one of these is the constant threat of foreign animal diseases (FADs) such as African Swine Fever (ASF).

Today, ASF is as close to the United States as the island nations of the Dominican Republic and Haiti—both just one short boat or plane ride from our mainland. This brings the FAD threat much closer than it’s been in over 40 years and makes a recent Iowa State University study’s conclusion more frightening.

It calculated the hypothetical impact from an ASF outbreak to be as costly as $50 billion to the US pork industry if not controlled for 10 years.

It’s About Reducing Risk

Everyone can help protect our national herd from FAD by enhancing their own farm’s biosecurity plan.

To read the Full Article as it appeared in our Benchmark swine magazine, click HERE.