The Swine Health Information Center says lessons learned in regions impacted by African Swine Fever have helped improve strategies to keep the infection out of North America. As part of its January eNewsletter the Swine Health Information Center has released its monthly domestic and global swine disease monitoring reports.
SHIC Associate Director Dr. Lisa Becton says, with outbreaks in Poland and in Siri Lanka, African Swine Fever is not abating but prevention strategies have evolved.
Quote-Dr. Lisa Becton-Swine Health Information Center:
Early on when they were looking at vaccines, for example, many different killed products were utilized and it was learned that they really weren't effective.
So, now strategies are assessing, how can we do some sort of modified live vaccine virus but still retain the health of the animal and reduce virus spread?
I think there's a lot more aggressive surveillance at our borders to try to prevent illegal meats and meat products from coming into the country but also, we're looking at other different strategies, such as transportation strategies, and other things that we can do to help reduce the risk through those methods of spread.