Dr. Dave Pyburn, DVM, vice president of science and technology for the Pork Checkoff at the US National Pork Board, assessed the African swine fever situation in Asia and the associated risk of virus transmission to the United States.
ASF has actively spread throughout most of China, including the southern part of the country where large production facilities are concentrated. Many animals may be infected with a virus, and this is a threat to the United States. According to Dr. Pyburn, the greatest concern is caused by substances capable of transporting ASF on themselves. The substances most at risk are feed and feed ingredients.
In 2014, researchers established a route by which the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhoea (PED) first entered North America in 2013. The PED model presented clearly showed that certain feed ingredients preserved the virus during a travel simulation from Beijing to Shanghai and on to the USA. In addition to diarrhea, China can 'export' to America pseudo-madness, the classic swine fever, foot and mouth disease, and ASF.
Dr. Pyburn noted that the risk of transmitting ASF can be reduced by using virus-killing feed additives or, for example, ensuring effective testing of feeds for epizootic cleanliness. At present, to provide a complete animal diet, China supplies many amino acids, vitamins and minerals to the United States. Not all of them can be produced in the States, so for now the country cannot abandon Chinese imports.
Source: agrorus-news.ru.
