PHOTO: HANS PRINSEN
PHOTO: KOOS GROENEWOLD
PHOTO: HENK RISWICK
4. Not all pigs get infected Something that was learnt is that only some pigs become in-
fected. For example, if ten pigs are all fed the same amount of contaminated feed, probably only one or two or three will pick up the infection. But once a pig gets infected, it will probably die. So it’s difficult to infect the animal, but in those with the infection the fatality rate is over 95%.
5. Dead pigs need immediate removal What often happens is that one pig dies and it is not removed
immediately. The other pigs start to nibble and lick at it and that is when they become infected. While a pig is alive and in- cubating the virus or even sick it is not shedding much and the other pigs do not pick up the infection. On a big farm the death of one or two pigs per week does not seem significant at first because it is below the farm’s normal mortality rate. But when suddenly there are 10, 20 or 30 pigs dying within two days, then it is obvious that something is wrong as the process becomes faster and exponential.
6. The importance of mortality data Because of that process it can be difficult to investigate when
and how the virus entered the farm. What can help is to go back to the farm records and look at the mortality data. Retro- spectively, it’s possible to see some very small peaks of mortali- ty which could have been the moment when the disease en- tered. That can be backed up by clinical and laboratory data.
7. Education, education, education ASF is not spread so much by nose-to-nose infection be-
tween the animals as it is by human behaviour. The only way to change that is by education. Good farm management should include educating the farm workers – and anyone else who comes into contact with the pigs – about the rules for bi- osecurity. Spread over longer distances is usually by human intervention, and that is harder to control through education.
8. Compensation for affected pig farmers There are places where farmers are not compensated if their
pigs become infected, so to save money they slaughter the sick pig. Then suddenly there is cheap meat on the black mar- ket; people buy it and may carry it in their cars over hundreds of kilometres, which spreads the disease.
In many countries there are good examples where they were able to eradicate ASF in domestic pigs, but it is com- plicated to eradicate a disease in wild boar in the forests. Unfortunately, with ASF, it’s essential to have patience.
Dr Klaus Depner is head of a working group on transboundary an- imal disease management at the German Friedrich-Loeffler-Insti- tut. In the Meet the Expert swine health management podcast by Boehringer Ingelheim, he is interviewed by journalist Peter Best.
Not every pig will get infected with ASFv. Good biosecurity, with clean and coloured boots, is essential.
Education about ASF will help make everyone aware of how to prevent infection. 25
▶ PIG PROGRESS | Volume 37, No. 2, 2021
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