that the main challenge of the plan is to address backyard production. He says, “We strongly support the initiative to ban CSF all over the country and in our state. In advanced pro- duction systems, we have been free from CSF cases for a long time, even decades, but there continue to be outbreaks with non-professional farmers.” Helder reinforces the role of producers associations to engage all growers at state level and admits the presence of the virus is a risk for the whole Brazilian pig sector. He explains, “If we can manage to eradicate foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in cattle, we can do the same with CSF in pigs.” Piauí state has had 28 outbreaks in recent years, of which nine occurred in 2021. The majority of those were found close to the city Demerval Lobão. Where all cases in Ceará and Piauí were found more than 1,000 km from the CSF-free zone, the ones in Alagoas were found rel- atively close to the CSF-free zone. Those two outbreaks in 2019 took place near the town Traipu, close to the state border with Sergipe, but they appear to have been an isolated event.
Challenges In Takeda’s opinion, pig vaccination is the best tool to control and eradicate CSF. There are mandatory procedures required to undertake it properly and achieve success. He says, “The vaccination process carried out under insufficient control measures, without an adequate dosage or not establishing immunity in swine herds can result in disastrous consequenc- es such as the emergence of CSF variants and re-emergence of the disease.” That’s why he emphasises that the main challenges for the CSF eradication plan are financial support for the vaccination programme, engagement of public and private actors and re- inforcing operational capacities of veterinary services at state level. He says, “All those aspects require governmental and non-governmental policies to guarantee enough financing, organisation, management and execution of the CSF control and the eradication programme in Brazil.”
Next phases There is no forecast for when the eradication programme will be completed, as all provinces need to go through various phases. After the vaccination of at least 90% of the animals in all states, the phase of recognition as a free zone is next. Once the surveillance system demonstrates absence of the disease, vaccination may eventually be suspended. Finally, there will be a period of 24 months of observation, which in- cludes the time needed to reduce effects of vaccination, and a period of 12 months without vaccination in accordance to OIE Terrestrial Code. Takeda adds, “We are also developing a study to better charac- terise swine production systems and epidemiological condition of the disease in the states of Amazonas, Roraima and Pará.”
▶ PIG PROGRESS | Volume 38, No. 3, 2022 11
Table 1 – Outbreaks of Classical Swine Fever in backyard farms in Brazil since 2010.
State
Alagoas Ceará Piauí Total
Source: OIE.
Health status The Brazilian pig sector is well known because of its privi- leged health status regarding the main threatening diseases. That is a result of sanitary controls and surveillance measures that maintain the country’s competitiveness on the global pig market. Brazil has been breaking records in pork production and exports, and should CSF become present in other parts of the country, it could compromise this important segment of the economy. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Brazil is the fourth main pork meat exporter and the fourth largest producer globally. The country produced 4.7 million tonnes and exported 1.13 million tonnes last year, according to a report by the Brazilian Association for Animal Protein (ABPA). Thus, maintaining the CSF-free zone is a priority to avoid dis- eases, such as CSF or African Swine Fever (ASF), and their se- vere economic and social impacts all over the country. Takeda finishes, “Acting in the non-free zone is pivotal to reduce risks of CSF virus in the current free zone as well.”
Outbreaks of CSF 2018 0
38 0
38
11 17 30
Total
2019 2
2020 0 0 2 2
2021 0 1 9
10
2022 0 0 0 0
2
50 28 80
A pig kept in a non-commercial farm in Minas Gerais state, Bra- zil. Backyard farms particular- ly are a problem when it comes to eradicating CSF in Brazil.
PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK
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