PHOTO: VINCENT TER BEEK


Having an emergency plan


SwineTalks characterises 2020 very well: acquiring the latest pig knowledge from the study at home.


Jarrod Plants, from feed plant DFS Oskaloo- sa, in Iowa, USA, presented an interesting approach to how to prepare for a dis- ease like ASF. In July 2019 he talked to expert people from the feed industry, pork producers and academia, asking them how they would prepare for the unknown. They devised a scheme in which the ASF threat levels were de- fined, from “Guarded” (virus not reported in North America), to “Elevated” (virus reported in North America), “High” (virus reported within 200 miles) and “Criti- cal”, the highest level (virus reported inside the feed mill). The next thing they did was produce a biosecurity matrix, listing all kinds of measures that would need to be taken in various different situations depending on the emergency level.


Biosecurity in feed production


Dr Zhikai Zeng, senior research scientist at New Hope in China, deliv- ered an insight into the situation with Chinese feed industry biosecurity. He said Chinese farmers, prior to ASF, had relied on vaccinations to pre- vent diseases entering their farms but now they realise more needs to be done in terms of biosecurity, even in terms of feed production. Dr Zeng said: “Feed mill security is one of the key parts of the farm secu- rity system. If just one pig is infected you may lose the whole farm. The feed industry has the ability to respond within 24 hours of any possible case. Trucks should be clean and sanitised before they enter a feed mill. “Having separate zones within a feed mill is also good practice and an efficient way to reduce cross contamination by the virus.


“Workers coming from home should shower twice and change their clothes before entering a manufacturing facility. Trucks bringing in raw materials and those that deliver final products should be separated at the gates of the mill and directed to their specific zones. “Choosing the right disinfectant for each specific situation is also important to break down the virus,” he said.


Monitoring and managing diseases


Monitoring and managing diseases was the topic for Dr Daniel Lin- hares, Iowa State University, USA, who delivered a comprehensive presentation. He said it was a


“no-brainer” that viruses such as ASF cause an impact on productivity and on economic swine production.


“The real question is how the virus would im-


pact individual farm production and how much it would cost with or without intervention compared to the baseline of no infection,” he said.


“The answer is not going to be found in books or research. The impact of disease really depends on the interaction between the pathogen cells, in this case virus, and immunity of that specific strain and other environmental factors which are unique to each production system. “The answer to all of this is to have ongoing on-farm research to meas- ure the impact of diseases and intervention on your own farm condi- tions,” he added. Dr Linhares outlined a number of examples of research that looked at how disease can affect the different stages of pig production and how those farms with excellent productivity had good management practices in place together with high levels of employee training.


▶PIG PROGRESS | Volume 36, No. 9, 2020 7


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