Research, Surveillance Underway to Protect U.S. Pigs from Fatal Swine Virus

Researchers across the nation are hard at work developing surveillance, treatment and prevention methods for a devastating, highly infectious animal disease that, if found in the United States, threatens our multibillion-dollar pork industry.

While African Swine Fever, or ASF, poses no threat to human health, its impact on U.S. pig populations — and the domestic and foreign markets that depend on them — would be severe. Preliminary estimates suggest that losses to the pork industry can be as high as $50 billion if we are unable to contain and eliminate ASF in a 10-year scenario.

Since the first known outbreak in 1907, ASF has infected swine in Africa, Europe and Asia. The virus was recently discovered on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola— first in the Dominican Republic and, since September, in Haiti.

Previous outbreaks in other countries have resulted in devastating losses for swine populations and pork producers through both high mortality and significant culling to control the spread of the disease.

USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is currently leading national surveillance and preparedness efforts, working with other federal agencies like NIFA, state governments, the swine industry and producers to protect the country’s pigs.

The National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) is a nationwide network of animal disease diagnostic laboratories dedicated to surveillance, detection and response to animal disease outbreaks. Coordinated jointly by APHIS and NIFA, NAHLN currently provides both active and passive surveillance for ASF and is poised to respond should an outbreak occur in the U.S.

One NIFA-funded study ($650k) that will soon launch at APHIS is seeking to develop a disease spread model focused on populations of feral swine. Led by Dr. Kim Pepin, a quantitative research biologist with the National Wildlife Research Center, the project will provide responders across the nation with a toolbox to rapidly eliminate the ASF virus if an introduction were to occur.

At the University of Vermont, NIFA has invested almost $2.5 million in a study led by Dr. Asim Zia, who is using artificial intelligence to build a predictive model of animal disease transmission that takes into account the choices livestock producers make based on how they perceive risk. The research will help to refine federal and state policies as well as provide guidance on how veterinarians and livestock producers can reduce biosecurity risk.

Other NIFA-funded research and surveillance activities include:

• A study at Kansas State, led by Dr. Lihua Wang, is developing a novel PCR test to accurately detect new variants of the ASF virus. ($300k)
• A Small Business Innovation Research grant to BioStone Animal Health in Texas, where Dr. Adam Contreras is developing an antibody test that will help differentiate vaccinated pigs from those that are infected, whether they are vaccinated or not. This tool will prove highly useful when the vaccine being developed in the U.S. is approved for use. ($100k)