REVIEW ▶▶▶
With ASF, the human factor is what counts
African Swine Fever was in the spotlight at the recently held European Symposium for Porcine Health Management (ESPHM). As this May’s event took place in the Netherlands, the situation in Belgium received plenty of attention. The human factor is arguably the most essential factor determining failure or success.
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Dr Philippe Houdart at the ESPHM in Utrecht in May.
BY VINCENT TER BEEK, EDITOR, PIG PROGRESS
he pig world is on fire with African Swine Fever af- fecting many countries in Eastern Europe and East- ern Asia. Especially in countries where biosecurity or information levels are relatively low, the virus man-
ages to travel fast and ravage domestic swine herds. Never- theless, quite a lot of attention was paid to Belgium – a coun- try where African Swine Fever (ASF) virus has been occurring in the wild boar population only since September 2018.
Role of the human factor in spread of ASF It’s often the human factor that can make or break ASF in a country. By mid-July, the virus had taken 824 victims in Bel- gium’s wild boar population, according to figures supplied by the World Organization for Animal Health. In recent weeks only a few contaminated carcasses are found every week – if any. In addition, so far, Belgium has managed to keep the vi- rus out of its domestic pig population. All in all, Belgium’s ap- proach appears to be moderately successful so far.
At the ESPHM, held in Utrecht, the Netherlands, 22-24 May 2019, Dr Philippe Houdart of the Belgian Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FASFC) gave some detailed in- sights into the situation in Belgium’s southern province Lux- embourg. He explained that it requires coordination to take a proper ASF approach on various authority levels. In Belgium, responsibility for wild boar management lies at regional level, whereas the federal FASFC is responsible for health issues in pigs. On top of that, a network between all stakeholders needed to be made.
How did the virus get into Belgium? Dr Houdart discussed various options as to how the virus might have got into Belgium – all of them related to human (mis)behaviour, like virus on left-overs or equipment, through a military facility, through the introduction of in- fected wild boar and, interestingly, he also mentioned intentional introduction. He discussed that over 5,000 blood samples of domestic pigs from about 1,000 holdings had been analysed. No outbreak so far has been confirmed in domestic pigs in Belgium – hence Belgium does have the status ‘Free from ASF’ in domes- tic pigs, meaning that there are no (trade) restrictions for the rest of the country.
What to do to get ASF virus out? Dr Houdart also touched on the containment strategy – in the short term that comes down to preventing the virus from spreading further, e.g. by zoning, preventive measures, fenc- ing, risk adapted hunting tactics and collection of dead wild boar. In the longer term, that means eradication of the dis- ease as well as eradication of wild boar in the affected area and a significant reduction of wild boar elsewhere. The authorities started that process in early June. This process, Dr Houdart explained, is necessary to reduce the potential of new hosts for the ASF virus. Dr Houdart then discussed what measures were taken to make sure ASF would continue to stay away from domestic pigs, like e.g. a mandatory 1-on-1 movement of pigs (so no picking up of other animals on the road) and enhanced passive surveillance. Many of these measures look like those taken in the Czech Republic, where also an isolated wild boar herd was found
14 ▶PIG PROGRESS | Volume 35, No. 6, 2019
PHOTO: VINCENT TER BEEK
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