INTERVIEW ▶▶▶ Dr Francisco Israel Brito and Professor Joaquín Paulino
“We are up against an invisible enemy”
Since mid-2021 African Swine Fever (ASF) virus has found its way into the western hemisphere, emerging in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. In the Dominican Republic, the virus is creating a headache – and a permanent solution will be difficult to achieve. Two Dominican pig health experts reflect on the situation: “Elimination is not that simple.”
BY VINCENT TER BEEK, EDITOR PIG PROGRESS T
he first of July 2021 is a date to remember in the Do- minican Republic – though it’s not for a pleasant reason. That is when ASF was rediscovered in the country after an absence of more than 40 years. In a matter of months,
the virus was reported in 29 of the 32 provinces of the Caribbean country. In addition, neighbouring Haiti, with which it shares the island Hispaniola, also became infected. By March 2022 about 180,000 pigs had been culled in the Dominican Republic in an attempt to stop the spread of the virus – but as about 35% of the country’s pigs are kept in backyard farms, exact total losses are hard to estimate. Veterinarian Dr Francisco Israel Brito, president of the Domini- can Federation of Pig Producers, and Professor Joaquín Paulino, attached to the agricultural university ISA in Santiago de los Caballeros, are two of the agricultural leaders who have watched
the situation unfold in the country, which was also affected by ASF in the late 1970s. At the time, total depopulation of all pigs proved to be the solution – but in 2022 that solution should be considered “of last resort”. While the drop in pork supplies has been replaced by more imports from the United States, the two experts think that in 2022 the is- land’s total pig population has dropped by 25% as a result of ASF.
How would you characterise the ASF situation in the Dominican Republic at the moment? Dr Francisco Israel Brito: “They have formally found 1,000 outbreak locations. Keeping in mind that the Dominican Republic has an area of over 48,000 km2
, this number in such a small geographical
area has led us to believe we have a very serious epidemiological situation.” Prof Joaquín Paulino: “Of the 32 provinces in the Dominican Re- public there are 29 provinces infected. The provinces that didn’t get infected (Azua, Hato Mayor and El Seibo) didn’t because the pork production there is minimal or almost absent. It is a situation that is very complex for our nation, which is now also fighting many economical problems as well as unemployment. Many people who used to work in pig production are now without work. It has cost the government over US$ 22 million dollars for compensation purposes. The situation is very serious.”
Dr Francisco Israel Brito 6 Prof Joaquín Paulino ▶ PIG PROGRESS | Volume 38, No. 3, 2022
How are the largest farms dealing with the outbreaks? Dr Israel Brito: “The pig industry in the Dominican Republic is quite diversified. Prior to ASF there were over 25,000 producers. Of those, 90% were small producers, having fewer than ten sows
PHOTO: DR ISRAEL BRITO
PHOTO: DR ISRAEL BRITO PHOTO: DR ISRAEL BRITO
PHOTO: PROF PAULINO
PHOTO: EPA | ORLANDO BARRIA | ANP
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