Canada is fol- lowing Australia by adding more sniffer dog teams to check airline luggage for smuggled pork.
Unprecedented measures to keep North America safe
In a world where coronavirus is dominating headlines increasingly, it would be easy to forget that the swine industry has its own virus to fight. The threat of African Swine Fever is far from over and countries like Canada and the United States are collectively ready to keep the virus out.
“V 12 BY TREENA HEIN, CORRESPONDENT
ery, very worried.” That’s how Dr Jaspinder Komal, chief veterinary officer with the Ca- nadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), re- cently described everyone – the pork in-
dustry, the CFIA, the Canadian Border Service Agency (CBSA) and government officials – collectively trying to keep African Swine Fever (ASF) out of Canada. He also described the ramped-up ASF entry prevention meas- ures in Canada as “unprecedented”. CFIA Media reports that these measures extend to 24 more sniffer dog teams to be added over the next five years (for an eventual total of 39) to check airline passengers for smuggled pork, and greater diligence in checking for hidden imports of bulk pork. “An Executive Management Board – a collaboration between the federal and provincial governments and industry – was
▶PIG PROGRESS | Volume 36, No. 2, 2020
formed and spearheads the pan-Canadian Action Plan on ASF, which outlines the strategy on Canada’s prevention and prepar- edness activities,” states CFIA Media. “Simulation exercises have been carried out to ensure a coordinated approach is adopted in the event of an ASF outbreak in Canada.” In addition, import controls pertinent to ASF have been re-evaluated, leading to new measures for importing plant-based feed ingredients.
Need to keep going In the view of Dr Egan Brockhoff, a swine veterinarian and partner at Prairie Swine Health Services in Red Deer, Alberta, and veterinary counsellor for the Canadian Pork Council, these “unprecedented” efforts to prevent ASF entry into Canada will need to continue for the foreseeable future. “We will have to be very diligent until the disease is under glob- al control,” he says. “Biosecurity plays a critical role in that, and there is still unfortunately a long way to go to educate people around the world about how the virus is spread. A change in at- titude is needed with regard to biosecurity protocols. There is also the wild boar problem. There are large populations in Europe, and the ASF virus loves that population.” An attitude change is also needed, says Brockhoff, about smuggling pork products. While countries such as Canada, the US, Australia and Japan have been diligent for decades in searching for and seizing illegal products at airports and ports,
PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36
