African Swine Fever

Preempting African Swine Fever in Texas with Research

Mon, 09 Dec 2024 19:02:00 GMT

By Gabe Saldana

As feral hog populations increase in Texas and the U.S., they create desirable conditions for disease-carrying ticks and increase the risk for an outbreak of African swine fever virus, ASFV.

To ensure the devastating ASFV stays out of Texas and the Southern U.S., a multi-institution research project led by Texas A&M AgriLife Research will assess the potential, or vector competency, of a southern Ornithodoros turicata tick to transmit the disease.

The nearly $1.5 million project is supported by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate through Cross-Border Threat Screening and Supply Chain Defense, CBTS, a DHS Center of Excellence within AgriLife Research.

Results from the project will fill critical knowledge gaps in the vector competency of ticks in the U.S. It will be an early key step toward research-based solutions that keep Texas and the Southern U.S. free of ASFV.

Assessing tick vector competency for ASFV transmission in Texas
“These ticks are in several southern states and are common in Texas,” said Meriam Saleh, Ph.D., clinical assistant professor in the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Saleh is the project’s principal investigator.

“Laboratory studies using a subspecies of these ticks, which originated in Florida, demonstrated high vector competency for ASFV to pigs,” she said. “Our research aims to confirm whether the Texas ticks carry the same ability to transmit the disease.”

Dee Ellis, DVM, AgriLife Research veterinarian within the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Entomology., and Scott Kenney, Ph.D., of Ohio State University, join Saleh as co-principal investigators.

The team will evaluate the biology and transmissibility of different ASFV strains and genotypes in ticks. They will determine the ability of other species to host or spread ASFV from ticks in the U.S.

Preempting an outbreak with research
African swine fever, as its name suggests, is a tick-borne DNA virus originating in Africa, where Ornithodoros moubata ticks persist in a continuous cycle with wild warthogs.

In Texas, unique challenges come from a host of issues: the presence of potential tick vectors, the expanding feral swine population, expansive suitable habitat for ticks and feral swine, commercial swine operations and the U.S. border with Mexico among others.

The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service estimates that an ASFV outbreak in the U.S. would devastate the U.S. pork industry with a 50% drop in hog prices, a halt in pork and pork product exports, as well as significant job losses and culling of the animals.

In Texas, according to the Texas Pork Producers Association, feral pigs outnumber domestic swine at least 3-to-1.

Adult ticks have been documented to live for years between feedings. Several species of Ornithodoros ticks in North America have demonstrated African swine fever transmission to swine in laboratory settings.

“Leading-edge discoveries and innovation will be the keys to staying ahead of ASFV for Texas and the Southern U.S.,” said Heather Manley Lillibridge, Ph.D., executive director of CBTS. “Collaborations across multiple institutions provide us with the resources and expertise for continued success.”

Your Next Read: The Pork Industry Responds to EPA’s Rodenticide Strategy

USDA Invests $17.6 Million to Protect Health and Welfare of Livestock

Wed, 11 Sep 2024 15:55:31 GMT

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) and African swine fever (ASF) are two high-priority research areas that will be funded through a $17.6-million investment by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to protect the health and welfare of agricultural animals.

“Protecting the health and welfare of agricultural animals is integral to ensuring a safe, sustainable, resilient and ethically-sound food system,” NIFA Director Manjit Misra said in a release. “Healthy livestock are more productive and less likely to harbor and spread diseases that can affect humans. In addition, properly managed livestock systems help maintain biodiversity and sustainable land use.”

These projects are part of USDA’s “One Health” efforts, an integrated, collaborative approach to address issues that impact the health of people, plants, animals and our ecosystems. The awards include $12.7 million for 27 projects funded through NIFA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative’s (AFRI) Diseases of Agricultural Animals program and $4.8 million for 10 projects funded through AFRI’s Welfare of Agricultural Animals program.

The AFRI Diseases of Agricultural Animals program focuses on maintaining healthy agricultural animals to ensure a safe and adequate food supply, USDA explains. The program supports research in whole-animal health, including disease prevention and control.

“Several projects focus on research related to vaccines that could mitigate the spread of HPAI and ASF. HPAI is a major threat to animal health, trade and the economy worldwide. ASF is a deadly pig disease that spreads rapidly and affects domestic and wild swine. While not a threat to human health, the virus could devastate America’s swine industry and food supply if it entered the United States,” USDA says.

Examples of the 27 funded projects include:

• University of Georgia researchers aim to develop mass vaccination strategies against a prevalent HPAI subtype. The potential benefits extend beyond avian influenza, paving the way for similar studies on other respiratory viruses affecting poultry and livestock.

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientists will design and evaluate ASF engineered vaccine antigens. This work will ultimately lead to development of a vaccine against ASF to aid in disease control and swine health.

• University of Missouri researchers plan to develop safer and more effective swine influenza vaccines, with the potential to reduce both animal and human influenza infections, and block potential zoonotic transmission from swine to humans.

The AFRI Welfare of Agricultural Animals program supports projects that evaluate current animal agriculture production practices and/or development of new or enhanced management approaches that safeguard animal welfare and adaption to climate change, the release says.

• Purdue University researchers will investigate the most effective indicator traits and breeding strategies to enhance heat tolerance in ducks. Scientists plan to develop guidelines that outline optimal management and breeding strategies to improve heat tolerance in poultry—offering a potential long-term solution to climate change impacts on poultry production globally.

• University of Vermont scientists will investigate how early-life calf management affects long-term behavioral development, emotional states and physiological stress in dairy cattle. The results will benefit the dairy cattle industry by increasing longevity and improving animal welfare and care standards.

Your Next Read: Canada To Develop a Foot and Mouth Disease Vaccine Bank

K-State is Now On a Mission to Estimate the Potential Economic Losses From Possible Foreign Animal Diseases

Thu, 26 Oct 2023 17:32:07 GMT

Nestled in the Flint Hills of Kansas is the town of Manhattan, home to Kansas State University. Take a drive across Kansas State University today, and signs of a major focus on biodefense, and animal agriculture specifically, are everywhere.

“We have NBAF here, which is the National Bio Agro-Defense Facility , that’s on the edge of campus. So, K-State really is right in the middle of the animal health industry,” says Dustin Pendell, director of the collaborating center for the economics of animal health Americas region, K-State University.

Pendell received some exciting news this summer: K-State had been chosen to lead a five-year global animal health effort, by opening a new center. Called the Collaborating Center for the Economics of Animal Health, Americas Region , the K-State University professor and economist already had some ambitious goals.

“In a decade from now, I hope that anywhere across the world, if anybody needs anything done related to economics for animal health, animal burdens or animal welfare, they immediately turn to K-State,” he says.

Starting to Assemble the Building Blocks

Pendell and team are just starting on the building blocks, ones that will develop decision-making tools and improve communication on the economic impacts of animal diseases

“When we think about this center, it’s veterinary data, it’s the disease data, including disease prevalence and disease incidents, in addition to economic data, like prices and quantities,” says Pendell. “But it takes a whole team of people and including data from a whole bunch of different sources and different disciplines to come together to study these animal health economic issues.”

K-State was selected by the World Organisation for Animal Health , which represents countries within North and South America.

“There are 33 countries in the Americas region that are members of the World Organisation for Animal Health. You’ve got Canada, Mexico, the United States. You also have all of Central America, and then South America and the Caribbean Islands,” he explains.

Pendell says here at home, livestock producers across the country are on high alert about the potential threat of animal diseases.

“Upfront, some of the current diseases that are here are high-path avian influenza, which was introduced recently, and you have ASF (African Swine Fever) knocking at the door. That’s another one that’s important,” says Pendell. “We’re working on some other diseases, endemic diseases, like bovine respiratory disease, etc., with folks over in the College of Veterinary Medicine. So, there’s going to be more than one disease (studied), per se. It’s going to probably be more of a portfolio approach.”

Sorting Out Priorities By Country

But he points out every country is different, so the focus for the U.S. is not always the same as the concerns for a country like Brazil.

“I spent some time in Brazil last month where they’re talking about TB, they’re talking about brucellosis issues that are a little different than maybe here in the United States,” he says. “And so there’ll be a lot of different issues, a lot of different diseases that we will focus on.”

The team is currently carving out the answer to what the priority diseases are by country, to then uncover the potential impact of the animal diseases that pose the biggest threat.

“Right now, we’re trying to visit with the various governments, and the animal health officials in these countries, to figure out what are the issues that that are most relevant, timely for them,” says Pendell. “Eventually, as we get up and running, it’s going to be anywhere from the producer to the consumer, and everybody in between, including the governments.”

National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility Located Next to K-State

Conveniently located down the road from Pendell is the new NBAF facility, a joint effort between the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to protect agriculture against possible foreign animal diseases. While the research is not new, the location is.

“NBAF needed to replace Plum Island because Plum Island is more than 65 years old, and it doesn’t have the capability to meet growing research and diagnostic needs when it comes to emerging diseases, which are those that are new or not well known, as well as zoonotic diseases, which are those that transfer between animals and humans,” says Christian Young, biological scientist with the Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory. “So, NBAF will be able to continue as well as expand upon Plum Islands’ mission to protect U.S. agriculture and our food supply against terrorist attacks, major disasters and other emergencies.”

Pendell says having NBAF in Manhattan, Kan., was also a selling point to why the center he’s leading made sense, as he will explore the possible economic impacts of those potential diseases.

“The biggest opportunity being here in Manhattan, Kan., at Kansas State University, is I think the animal health industry here is only going to grow because of NBAF,” says Pendell. “I think there’s going to be so many opportunities in this space to add an economic component to the research that’s going on in this animal health space.”

An Important Tool for Livestock Producers, Livestock Industry

Pendell knows it’s a big undertaking, but it’s one that could change the game for livestock producers not just in Kansas, but around the globe.

“It’s important for livestock producers, because this is their livelihood. So our goal is to produce tools in which they can evaluate various biosecurity measures that can reduce the likelihood of a disease outbreak on their individual operation and protect their livelihood,” says Pendell.

A Sport Utility Vehicle for Disease: Wild Pigs Wreak Havoc in Louisiana

Wed, 16 Aug 2023 19:25:22 GMT

For years, Louisiana has had small populations of wild pigs. In fact, wild pigs lived in two particular basins for hundreds of years, but never spread. As sport hunting grew in popularity, people began moving these wild pigs to other areas. The resulting explosion of wild pigs on Louisiana’s landscape has been devastating.

“It was told to me many years ago, wild pigs are a sport utility vehicle for disease and parasites. They move them across the landscape. Really no good comes with them once they move into an area,” Jim LaCour, DVM, Louisiana state wildlife veterinarian, said in the latest episode of “ Feral Swine in America ,” which investigates the damage feral swine inflict.

Marshes are the frontline defense for all the storms and hurricanes the state receives. If the hogs are rooting in the marshes when the water comes in from the hurricanes, it causes erosion on an even faster level.

“Basically, a pig has a 3-inch environmental vacuum on the front of his face. Anything in front of it is going down. A lot of that damage goes unseen by the public eye because it may be in the middle of the woods somewhere, but that does have a value,” explains William Futch with USDA Wildlife Services.

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries did a survey several years ago that showed 600 nests were destroyed by wild hogs. Each nest probably averages around 30 eggs or more and each egg is worth about $20.

“It’s a big economic impact when they’re destroying all of our nests,” says Walter Cotton of USDA Wildlife Services.

In addition to the damage done to the diverse landscape and crops in Louisiana, feral swine pose many concerns to livestock producers and wildlife enthusiasts because of their ability to spread disease.

“We surveil for these diseases to help protect our pork production and trade as well as protect our wildlife population,” says Greg Franckowiak, USDA research wildlife biologist. “After the removal of swine, we collect biological samples to perform disease surveillance.”

Samples are tested for foreign animal diseases such as classical swine fever and African swine fever.

“We ensure to ourselves, the USDA, as well as our trading partners, that these animals do not have these diseases, so we can continue to trade,” Franckowiak adds. “One of the other aspects that we use disease surveillance for is ensuring that some diseases that have been eliminated from commercial swine populations don’t get reintroduced by feral swine.”

Feral Swine in America is a video series that shows the stories of farmers, ranchers and others impacted by invasive feral swine.

More from Farm Journal’s PORK:

Is Missouri’s Feral Hog Population on the Decline?

Feral Swine Eradication Program Should Be Permanent, Senators Urge

Destructive, Formidable, Invasive: How is the U.S. Managing the Feral Hog Population?

Feral Swine Test Positive for Pseudorabies at Colorado Farm

New Center at Kansas State University to Drive Innovation in Animal Vaccines and Antimicrobial Alternatives

Fri, 07 Jul 2023 19:50:20 GMT

Launching the new Center on Vaccine Evaluation and Alternatives for Antimicrobials, or CVEAA, Kansas State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine aims to support animal vaccine development and usage, says a recent release.

The new center will provide innovative services to global partners and customers by conducting safety and efficacy evaluations of vaccines for transboundary animal diseases, helping animal vaccine buyers manage product specification and quality evaluation, and leading feasibility analysis and policy advocacy on vaccines as alternatives for antimicrobials used in animal production, says the release, with Jishu Shi, professor of vaccine immunology and one of the university’s leading researchers on infectious swine diseases to serve as the center’s director and one of three primary faculty members.

“The Center on Vaccine Evaluation and Alternatives for Antimicrobials is a research and service center designed to meet a series of unmet needs in the development and usage of animal vaccines around the world,” Shi says in the release.

The center will focus on U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of Homeland Security supported research projects and work closely with animal health industry partners in the following areas, says the release:
• Safety and efficacy testing of experimental vaccines for African swine fever, classical swine fever and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome.
• Co-development of novel adjuvants for animal vaccines.
• Evaluations of diagnostic tools for swine infectious diseases, novel antiviral compounds against swine viral pathogens, and novel disinfectants against African swine fever virus and other swine viral pathogens.

“Dr. Shi’s research expertise in helping control the spread of African swine fever and his experience in building coalitions between a wide variety of partners in private industry and government agencies makes him uniquely qualified to lead this new center,” says Bonnie Rush, Hodes family dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, in the release.

The primary faculty members at the center will include Shi. Lihua Wang, research assistant professor of virology and vaccine immunology, and Rachel Madera, senior research scientist in anatomy and physiology, as well as a team of the following collaborating principal investigators from K-State’s veterinary college: Jianfa Bai, Santosh Dhakal, Natasha N. Gaudreault, Tae Kim, Waithaka Mwangi, Roman M. Pogranichniy, Jürgen A. Richt and Dana L. Vanlandingham.

“The need to evaluate safety and efficacy of experimental vaccines for high consequence transboundary animal diseases has increased significantly since 2018, but the availability of suitable high-level biosecurity research facilities and associated expertise in public and private domains is very limited,” Shi explains in the release. “Vaccines for transboundary animal diseases are frequently procured by international aid agencies. However, these agencies have very limited resources on ‘fit for purpose’ analysis and quality evaluation of the vaccines before they are purchased.”

Additionally, Shi notes the “One Health” initiative, which aims to promote vaccines as alternatives to antibiotics in food animal production practice — has faced multiple challenges, including the efficacy, availability and affordability of current commercial bacterial vaccines, Shi believes new policies and public-private partnerships are needed to accelerate targeted research and development of new vaccines to improve animal health and reduce antibiotic consumption and antimicrobial resistance risk.

USDA Announces $15.8M in Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Projects

Tue, 21 Mar 2023 18:48:04 GMT

A total of 60 projects, led by 38 states, land-grant universities and industry organizations have been awarded $15.8 million by the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to focus on the nation’s response and control to animal disease outbreaks, through the 2018 Farm Bill’s National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program (NADPRP).

“Consistent access to safe, healthy, and affordable food is a critical need for all consumers,” said Jenny Lester Moffitt, Under Secretary for USDA’s marketing and regulatory programs, in a recent release. “These Farm Bill-funded preparation activities are vital to helping us safeguard U.S. animal health, which in turn allows U.S. producers to continue to feed our country and the world.”

This year’s projects focus on enhancing prevention, preparedness, early detection and rapid response to diseases that threaten U.S. livestock, says the release, including helping states develop and practice plans to quickly control an outbreak, train responders and producers to perform critical animal disease outbreak response activities, educate and increase the use of effective and practical biosecurity measures on farms, and support animal movement decisions in the case of a disease outbreak.

According to the release, some of the projects funded by NADPRP this year include:
• National Incident Command System Capacity Advancement at the Michigan Department of Agriculture and the Multi-State Partnership for Security in Agriculture;
• On-Demand Training for foreign animal disease diagnosticians for animal disease response at Texas A&M AgriLife Research;
• Targeted Learning Modules for the Poultry Industry on Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza at the University of Minnesota;
• Extending a between-farm African swine fever transmission model to estimate the necessary number of sample collectors in a highly swine dense region at North Carolina State University;
• Biosecurity Rapid Response Mobile Decontamination/Disinfection Gate for Animal Disease Outbreaks at the Maryland Department of Agriculture; and
• Emergency Response Preparedness for Foreign Animal Diseases and Mass Livestock Mortalities at North Dakota State University

A full list of the funded projects can be found on the NADPRP website .

The 2018 Farm Bill provided NADPRP funding is part of an overall strategy to help prevent animal pests and diseases, reduce the spread and impact of potential disease incursions, while protecting and expanding market opportunities for U.S. agricultural products. Over the last four years of NADPRP, USDA has provided more than $22 million in support of over 120 projects.

Federal Agents Seize Mooncakes at JFK Airport

Fri, 26 Aug 2022 15:42:05 GMT

U. S. Customs and Border Protection Agriculture Specialists discovered more than 40 lbs. of Mooncakes, 1,200 lbs. of olives and nearly 2,600 lbs. of clams in a shipment from China at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Aug. 18. The prohibited food items were seized and destroyed by CBP agriculture specialists in accordance with USDA regulations.

Mooncakes, a Chinese bakery product, can contain pork. Because China is a country affected by African swine fever (ASF), classical swine fever (CSF), Newcastle Disease (ND), foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) and swine vesicular disease (SVD), mooncakes are a prohibited food item.

“CBP Agriculture Specialists are the first line of defense to prevent the introduction of animal diseases that have the potential to cause significant damage to the nation’s agricultural economy,” Frank Russo, Director, Field Operations, New York Field Office, said in the release.

Agriculture is the largest industry and employing sector in the U.S. with more than $1 trillion of economic activity annually, CBP reports. Foreign animal disease is one of the greatest risks to this industry. On a typical day in fiscal year 2021, CBP agriculture specialists intercepted 264 pests at U.S. ports of entry and 2,548 materials for quarantine: plant, meat, animal byproduct and soil.

More from Farm Journal’s PORK:

Feds Seize Prohibited Fresh Pork at Laredo Port of Entry

CBP Ag Specialists Block Bologna at Border Crossing

ASF: Biosecurity Is Our Responsibility

Senators Push for More “Bark” to Keep Foreign Animal Disease Out

CBP Casts Wide Net to Assess African Swine Fever Threats to the U.S.

Federal Agents Prevent Smuggled Animal Products from Entering the U.S.

Two States Make it Easier for Hunters to Kill Wild Pigs

Fri, 28 Jan 2022 21:30:19 GMT

Two states are working to ramp up measures to minimize growing wild pig populations that are causing major damage to agriculture, the environment and private property.

California Senator Introduces Legislation to Lift Hunting Restrictions

California Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, recently introduced legislation that could help control California’s growing pig problem. It’s wild pig population has soared since various non-native boar and pig breeds were introduced centuries ago. Wild pigs can be found in 56 of the 58 counties.

“Unfortunately, swelling numbers of wild pigs have become a scourge on California wildlands, endangering sensitive habitats, farms and other animals,” Sen. Dodd said in a release . “They also present a major public health risk and have been linked to outbreaks of foodborne illness. My bill will increase opportunities to hunt them and do so more economically so that we may bring our pig population under control.”

Numerous environmental and public health problems are associated with pigs and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife allows year-round pig hunting. Sen. Dodd’s proposal, Senate Bill 856, would lift remaining hunting restrictions allowing for better population control and habitat management. His bill has garnered the support of many wildlife officials and farmers, among other groups, the release said.

“The feral pig population in Sonoma County has gotten to an alarming number,” Jennifer Beretta, president of Sonoma County Farm Bureau, said in the release. “These unmanageable herds are tearing up working lands, competing with less aggressive wildlife for food, and rutting the landscape to the point of degraded water quality. We would never advocate for eradicating an animal population, but the ability to manage the population through science-based management practices is advantageous for farming and open space.”

Two Texas Counties Put Bounties on Feral Hogs

Meanwhile, two counties in Central Texas are putting bounties on feral hogs this year, Outdoor Life reports. Starting in February, hunters in Hays and Caldwell Counties will be able to get paid $5 per wild pig killed.

The funding has been made possible from grants from Texas A&M AgriLife Extension’s Wildlife Services, the article said. Hays County received $7,500 and Caldwell received $20,000.

The bounties will be paid by check in return for tails and/or certified buying station receipts. Hays County is also requiring participants to complete a W-9 and a participation form. These forms can be obtained in-person at one of the Hays County bounty stations, or through the Central Texas Feral Hog Task Force’s website .

Programs like these are becoming critical as the wild pig population in Texas continues to increase at an alarming rate. Wild pigs are present in 253 of the state’s 254 counties. The rapid expansion has been attributed to the pigs’ ability to thrive across various environments.

Experts note that the only problem with these bounty programs is that recreational hunting alone is not enough to fix the problem. Texas already allows hunters to target pigs year round, Outdoor Life reports, and there is no bag limit for this species.

Trapping is more effective, which is also why Hays and Caldwell counties are making trapping a large component of their wild pig management plan.

Read More:

Monster-Sized Wild Pigs are on the Rise in Canada

Can You Really Trap Feral Pigs with Your Cell Phone?

Feral Swine: USDA Monitors World’s Worst Invasive Alien Species

How Colorado Eliminated Feral Hogs

Feral Hog Stomachs Tell Story of Destruction

Montana Puts Plan in Place to Keep Canadian Feral Hogs Out

Texas Community Hires Consultant to Fight Feral Hog Problem

Ordinary to Outrageous: Top 10 Agricultural Seizures of 2021

Wed, 19 Jan 2022 20:42:12 GMT

It’s no surprise pork products made the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Top 10 Agriculture Seizures of 2021 list more than once. Keeping deadly diseases of plants and animals out of the U.S. is a high priority for CBP, especially as the deadly African swine fever (ASF) virus moves closer to the U.S.

In the past year alone, CBP issued 73,917 emergency action notifications for restricted and prohibited plant and animal products entering the U.S., the agency reports . In addition, CBP conducted 630,150 positive passenger inspections and issued 7,190 civil penalties and/or violations to the traveling public for failing to declare prohibited agriculture items.

Here are the Top 10 agricultural finds of 2021 from throughout the U.S.:

1. Papaya-Hidden Marijuana

In February, CBP officers at the commercial facility at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry seized more than 12,000 pounds of marijuana with a street value of $27 million found commingled within a shipment of papayas. A CBP narcotic detector dog immediately alerted to the shipment during a second inspection, and officers discovered 873 wrapped packages of marijuana.

2. Avian Eggs

In April, CBP ag specialists at the port of Memphis, Tenn., inspected a shipment from China on its way to New York City manifested as “The Scarf” and found that the shipment actually contained 750 unfertilized avian eggs. According to USDA, China is currently affected with Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza and Newcastle Disease, both of which are highly contagious and fatal to the U.S. poultry industry and various avian wildlife. The eggs were not accompanied by any documentation detailing the genus or species, nor was there any indication of their purpose, so they were destroyed.

3. Giant Land Snails and a ¼ Pound of Beef

CBP ag specialists working at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston intercepted 15 live giant land snails from a passenger’s luggage in early July. The passenger was traveling from Nigeria and initially only declared dried beef, but later amended her declaration to include live snails. During an examination of the passenger’s luggage, agriculture specialists found three plastic zip-closed bags containing the live snails with fresh leaves and about a quarter pound of beef. The snails were turned over to USDA, who identified the snails as giant land snails, also known as banana rasp snails.

4. Pork Sausages

In August, CBP agriculture specialists assigned to the Boston Logan International Airport encountered a 35-year-old female arriving from Santiago, Dominican Republic. During a baggage examination, 11 kilograms of pork sausages were discovered. Just a month prior, Dominican Republic officials confirmed the presence of African swine fever, a highly contagious disease of feral and domestic swine. The pork sausages at the Boston airport were removed and turned over to a USDA hauler for destruction.

(Farm Journal)

Ag specialists uncovered 320 pounds of pork bologna and 30 pounds of turkey ham at the Paso Del Norte Border Crossing. Photo by U.S. CBP.

5. A Bunch of Bologna

CBP ag specialists assigned to the Paso Del Norte Border Crossing seized 320 pounds of pork bologna and 30 pounds of turkey ham in August. The meat was discovered during an inspection and had been hidden under blankets, under the seats, center console and inside a duffel bag. The individual was issued a $1,000 civil penalty, and the products were confiscated.

6. Botulinum and E.coli DNA Plasmids

A traveler arriving from Japan “reluctantly declared” he was in possession of Botulinum and E. coli DNA plasmids intended for research in September, CBP reports. An inspection revealed 27 vials of the biological material. The traveler lacked the required documents, including the official statement attesting to the non-infectiousness of the material, required by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). After reviewing the samples, CDC agreed that more information was needed to determine admissibility. The traveler withdrew his application for admission to the U.S. and returned to his country with the biological materials.

7. Butterfly Larvae

Also in September, CBP agriculture specialists at the Port of Gulfport discovered a butterfly larvae pest, informally known as the Saunders 1850, while inspecting a shipment container of pineapples from Costa Rica. Due to the potential impact to U.S. agriculture, the shipment of pineapples, worth $15,000, was destroyed. According to USDA, this was the first time this species had been discovered in the United States.

8. Primate Arms, Dry Fish, Cooked Snails, Cow Skin and What?

In October, CBP’s agriculture team in Minneapolis discovered six large bags containing clothing, two primate arms, dry fish, cooked snails, plant material, cow skin, bushmeat and eru plant material. After notifying the CDC, the team seized the primate arms and bushmeat and destroyed them according to USDA protocol. The seeds were submitted to USDA for identification and the passenger was informed of human-health concerns with handling and consuming bushmeat, including the potential transmission of ebola and monkeypox viruses.

(Farm Journal)

A total of 47 roosters and hens were found wrapped in stockings inside a purse, and underneath the seats, floor mats, inside the glove compartment and trunk of a vehicle at the Laredo Port of Entry. Photo by U.S. CBP.

9. Live Poultry

CBP officers at the Laredo Port of Entry intercepted a l arge clutch of live poultry hidden throughout a vehicle back in November. A total of 47 roosters and hens were found wrapped in stockings inside a purse, and underneath the seats, floor mats, inside the glove compartment and trunk of a vehicle in the SENTRI lane. A $500 penalty was issued to the driver for attempting to import prohibited agriculture items while being a SENTRI card holder. The SENTRI card was turned in to the SENTRI Enrollment Center, the vehicle was seized by CBP under 19 USC 1595, and the live poultry were seized and transferred to USDA’s Veterinary Services.

10. Fresh Peppers

In December, CBP ag specialists in Newark encountered a shipment of fresh peppers from Guatemala. During document review, the provided phytosanitary certificate, which must be used to facilitate importer plants and plant products, was blurry, and an original certificate could not be found. It was later discovered that the certification was fraudulent, which can alter the options for phytosanitary actions that must be taken to prevent the entry of plant pests, prohibited plant products, or animal products capable of introducing foreign animal diseases.

In an attempt to ease the process for travelers needing to declare agriculture and biological products prior to arriving at an airport in the U.S., CBP has moved the declaration process to the CBP One mobile application, which will give travelers more transparency throughout the request process, including real-time status updates by way of pushed notifications, which can also be sent to a group email, CBP reports. Travelers can also upload documents such as accompanying permits, certificates or statements of non-infectiousness for CBP review prior to arrival. Learn more here .

More from Farm Journal’s PORK:

The Chickens That Didn’t Cross the Road in Laredo

$53 million in narcotics found in truck carrying Mexican cauliflower

Federal Agents Prevent Smuggled Animal Products from Entering the U.S.

K-9 “Kody” Sniffs Out Prohibited Sausages at Newark Airport

U.S. Customs and Border Protection intercepts meth in strawberries

CBP Ag Specialists Block Bologna at Border Crossing

Federal Agents Seize Nearly a Ton of Illegal Animal Products in New York City

Thu, 13 Jan 2022 19:44:44 GMT

Federal agents seized and destroyed more than 1,900 pounds of prohibited pork, poultry and ruminant products from New York City-area retailers in the past three months, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) reports.

APHIS’ Smuggling Interdiction and Trade Compliance (SITC) program discovered these unlawful items sourced from China and lacking required import permits and health certificates between the months of October 2021 to December 2021. Because of this, they are considered a risk of introducing invasive plant and animal pests and diseases into the U.S.

“SITC anti-smuggling efforts prevent the establishment of invasive plant and animal pests and diseases, while maintaining the safety of our ecosystems and natural resources. The recent efforts to safeguard American agriculture represent a continued collaboration between APHIS, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and local New York City officials,” APHIS said in a release.

China is affected by African swine fever (ASF), Classical swine fever, Newcastle disease, Foot-and-mouth disease, highly pathogenic avian influenza and swine vesicular disease. However, ASF is of greatest concern right now because the highly contagious and deadly viral disease that affects both domestic and feral swine has recently spread throughout China and Asia, as well as within parts of the European Union. In addition, ASF was recently confirmed in pigs in the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

Although ASF is not a threat to human health, it would have a significant impact on the U.S. swine herd, pork producers, their communities and export markets if discovered in the U.S.

(Farm Journal)

“ASF has never been found in the United States – and APHIS wants to keep it that way. In response to the concerns about ASF, APHIS is working closely with other federal and state agencies, the swine industry, and producers to take the necessary actions to protect our nation’s commercial swine population and keep this disease out of the U.S. APHIS is also actively preparing to respond if ASF is ever detected in the U.S,” the agency said in a release.

SITC’s safeguarding efforts extend to other prohibited agricultural products. In 2021 alone, SITC seized 224,568 pounds of prohibited agricultural items valued at over $1.7 million, helping protect U.S. crops and livestock from devastating and costly plant pests and foreign animal diseases.

Tips from the public help contribute to APHIS’ efforts in safeguarding American agriculture. If you are aware of the potential smuggling of prohibited exotic fruits, vegetables or meat products into or throughout the U.S., contact the confidential Anti-Smuggling Hotline at 301-734-8534 or email tips to SITC.Mail@usda.gov. USDA said it will make every attempt to protect the confidentiality of any information sources during an investigation within the extent of the law.

More from Farm Journal’s PORK:

Why the U.S. Pork Industry Won’t Forget 2021

Feral Swine Test Positive for Pseudorabies at Colorado Farm

Thu, 06 Jan 2022 14:37:32 GMT

Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) officers confiscated feral swine from a farm in El Paso County that later tested positive for pseudorabies.

It is illegal to bring invasive species such as feral swine into Colorado, remind CPW and the Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA). For 15 years, Colorado has worked to eliminate feral swine , working with a partnership that includes CDA as well as federal agencies including APHIS and the U.S. Forest Service.

“This is exactly why we have worked so hard to eliminate free-roaming feral swine from Colorado,” Travis Black, CPW’'s Regional Manager for the Northwest Region based in Grand Junction and an expert on feral pigs, said in a release . “Roaming wild, feral swine destroy agricultural crops, wildlife habitat and out-compete native species for food. And feral swine kept on farms pose a huge risk to other animals by spreading diseases such as pseudorabies, as in this case.”

A team of CPW officers led by Black, who was then Deputy Regional Manager for the Southeast Region based in Colorado Springs, and Area Wildlife Manager Cody Wigner, descended on a small farm on Sept. 3 near Colorado Springs after reports the homeowner was raising feral swine illegally imported from Texas.

CPW found three of the wild pigs in a small barn and euthanized them. After sending blood samples to a lab for analysis, test results showed the presence of pseudorabies.

The homeowner was cited for illegally transporting and possessing the prohibited species. Each is a misdemeanor charge and carries a fine and surcharge amount of $137 per animal, CPW reports.

CPW is working with USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to trace the feral swine back to their original herd in Texas to help stop the spread of this contagious virus.

“The Colorado feral swine task force continues to monitor for reintroductions to ensure the state remains free of this invasive species and the damage it can inflict,” CPW said in a release.

Read more about how Colorado eliminated feral swine here.

More from Farm Journal’s PORK:

How Colorado Eliminated Feral Hogs

Deadly Terrorist Threatens the Lone Star State’s Domestic Pig Herd

Feral Hog Eradication in Missouri: Let the Trapping Continue

Feral Hog Stomachs Tell Story of Destruction

Texas Community Hires Consultant to Fight Feral Hog Problem

Feral Swine: USDA Monitors World’s Worst Invasive Alien Species

Wild Pigs on the Prairies: Researchers Document Exponential Increase

Mon, 13 Dec 2021 04:28:07 GMT

By JAMES SHEWAGA, University of Saskatchewan

His warnings have gone largely unheeded, while wild pigs continue rapidly expanding across Western Canada, with no nationally coordinated science-based containment strategy in place and limited provincial resources available. For Brook, it’s a recipe for disaster.

“What we have seen on the Prairies in the last 10 years is this absolutely exponential increase in the number of wild pigs,” said Brook, who joined the University of Saskatchewan (USask) in 2010, and is one of the few researchers in the country actively tracking the unchecked growth of this destructive and elusive invasive species. “Let’s be clear, wild pigs on the Canadian Prairies are expanding completely out of control, and you can quote me on that.”

With limited resources, Brook and his graduate students and volunteers with the USask-based Canadian Wild Pig Research Project have been charting increased wild pig sightings across the Prairies, with the majority occurring in Saskatchewan where feral pigs have been spotted in 80 per cent of the province’s 296 rural municipalities.

${vImageAlt}A helicopter pilot eyes up a feral boar before capturing it with a net gun to fit them with a GPS tracking collar. (Photo: Submitted)
“We have this huge database of over 60,000 individual wild pig occurrences across Canada,” said Brook, an associate professor in the Department of Animal and Poultry Science in the College of Agriculture and Bioresources at USask. “Sometimes those are repeats of the same pig wandering by trail cameras, so it’s not all necessarily individuals, but either way, that is a lot of occurrence data.

“Saskatchewan has 60 per cent of all of our occurrences in our entire data base and 99 per cent are on the Prairies and 91 per cent are just in Saskatchewan and Manitoba combined. We have a hot spot in East-Central Saskatchewan that isn’t that large of an area but it actually probably has the same number of pigs as the rest of Canada combined.”

Wild pigs have spread as far as British Columbia and Ontario, and in the past few months, Parks Canada confirmed they were found for the first time in a national park, spotted at Elk Island National Park east of Edmonton. Brook said it is only a matter of time before they invade Prince Albert National Park, and other cherished—and fragile—environment sanctuaries.

“We need to recognize that there are some major strongholds that will never be eradicated, but there are other areas that are nearly pig-free, or could be made so,” said Brook. “My worry about recognizing that we won’t fully eradicate them from Canada now is I don’t want that to be an excuse not to try and not to address this. We still need to act.”

The wild pig problem began innocently enough back in the late 1980s when wild boars from Europe were imported by a few Canadian farmers to raise for meat, with most interbred with domestic swine. Some were set free when the boar meat market cooled off, while others escaped due to inadequate fencing and have continued to spread and breed uncontrolled for decades (averaging litters of six every six months), destroying crops, contaminating watersheds and damaging fragile ecosystems while running amok.

“Crop damage is often the biggest economic impact. The U.S. loses 2.5 billion dollars per year just in crop damage alone due to wild pigs,” said Brook, who noted the problem is an economic disaster in the making for Prairie producers, if left unchecked. “No question the potential is to get into the tens of millions just in crop damage alone. Disease is harder to estimate in terms of cost, but we do know that when we had mad cow disease, one farm in Alberta had one case and the whole country shut down. So certainly, if we had African swine fever in one wild pig, it would cost millions upon millions to address it. And it’s also harder to put a value on wetlands and clean freshwater and ecosystems in general; they are invaluable.”

Growing to sometimes more than 600 pounds, wild pigs are aggressive with razor sharp tusks and have been known to attack humans, including a Texas woman killed in her driveway two years ago. Brook also noted a major recall of spinach in California due to E-coli, connected to wild pigs contaminating a field and creating a health risk.

So what’s the solution? Brook advocates for a multi-pronged approach to containment, since “we have missed our window of opportunity” to eradicate the invasive species. In an ideal world, Brook’s wild pig-containment toolbox would include baiting, trapping, and the strategic removal of wild pigs using helicopters to capture them. Sport hunting is not part of a viable solution.

“(Helicopter capture) is expensive, but it’s highly, highly effective,” said Brook. “We net them out of a helicopter and that works great because you can cover huge areas.”

However, Brook said the biggest problem is we simply don’t know how big of a problem wild pigs have become. Brook’s current PhD student Ruth Aschim recently led the first and only scientific survey of wild pig expansion in the country—published in Nature Scientific Reports.

“If Canada is going to get really serious about pigs and try to remove some, or at least control them, then you need data to actually tell you if you are winning or if it is getting worse. We just don’t know what the population numbers are,” said Brook. “Like a wildfire, the cornerstone for dealing with invasive species is early detection and rapid and aggressive response, and we missed that window.

“It was easy to ignore them through the ’90s and the 2000s, but as we are seeing in 2021, you can ignore wild pigs all you want, until you simply can’t ignore them anymore. The problem has exploded over a very short timeline and it is painful that all the predictions that we have been making have become absolutely true, in terms of their expansion.”

Brook, who calls the uncontrolled spread of wild pigs “an ecological trainwreck,” fears it will take a major economic catastrophe or extensive environmental damage to create the impetus to act.

“I believe that a lot of my work with my research team has really been about collecting data and preparing for a big crisis, and hopefully it’s not a major disease outbreak,” said Brook. “That’s a real concern. African swine fever is a major, major concern and it would be a massive hit to our economy. I think we are just waiting for a big crisis to happen, whether it is an outbreak, somebody being killed by a pig, or a major increase in highway collisions. It is unfortunate if we only see major effort after a major crisis occurs.”

“People often ask me what the path forward is, what we need to do,” Brook added. “What we desperately need is leadership and a coordinated effort. I am happy to talk about the details of which technique is better at finding pigs and which is better at removing them, and that is important. But the most important thing we need is for all stakeholders to come together on this, recognize it is a problem, and deal with it before it is too late.”

More from Farm Journal’s PORK:

Monster-Sized Wild Pigs are on the Rise in Canada

Can You Really Trap Feral Pigs with Your Cell Phone?

Feral Swine: USDA Monitors World’s Worst Invasive Alien Species

How Colorado Eliminated Feral Hogs

Feral Hog Stomachs Tell Story of Destruction

Montana Puts Plan in Place to Keep Canadian Feral Hogs Out

Texas Community Hires Consultant to Fight Feral Hog Problem

APHIS Awards $16.3 Million in Farm Bill Funding to Protect Animal Health

Thu, 09 Dec 2021 20:20:34 GMT

USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is awarding more than $16.3 million to 64 projects with states, universities and other partners to strengthen programs to protect animal health.

“Ensuring the health of animals helps protect and preserve U.S. export markets and keeping foreign animal diseases out of the U.S. helps us expand export opportunities for rural America to more and better markets,” USDA said in a release.

Not only will this funding support projects focused on enhancing vaccine distribution plans and supporting animal movement decisions in high-consequence animal disease outbreaks, but it will also support delivering outreach and education on animal disease prevention and preparedness and developing point-of-care diagnostic tests to rapidly detect foreign animal diseases. This critical funding also supports projects to enhance early detection of high-impact animal diseases and improve emergency response capabilities at veterinary diagnostic laboratories that are part of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN), USDA noted.

“These funding awards will help ensure the ongoing health of our nation’s livestock and poultry,” Jenny Lester Moffitt, Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs said in a release. “Safeguarding U.S. animal health helps us expand export opportunities for rural America to more and better markets, while providing consistent access to safe, healthy, and affordable food for U.S. consumers. The preparedness and response activities we are funding today will help us address the animal disease issues of tomorrow and arm us with the best science available to retain international markets and feed our families and the world. I look forward to seeing the progress USDA and its partners make with these funds.”

In the 2018 Farm Bill, funding for these programs was provided as part of an overall strategy to help prevent animal pests and diseases from entering the U.S. and reduce the spread and impact of potential disease incursions with the goal or protecting and expanding market opportunities for U.S. agricultural products. This marks the third year APHIS is providing this Farm Bill funding. Last year, $14.4 million was approved to fund 76 projects.

National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program (NADPRP)

APHIS is awarding $7.6 million through the NADPRP. The 36 NADPRP-funded projects will individually and collectively address critical concerns in areas of vaccine distribution, animal movement and business continuity during a disease outbreak, and disease prevention and preparedness outreach and education. These projects will be led by state animal health authorities in 21 states, land-grant universities and industry/veterinary organizations.

National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN)

APHIS is awarding $4.4 million through the NAHLN. The 21 NAHLN-funded projects will be led by NAHLN laboratories representing 14 states. The projects will help NAHLN enhance early detection of high-consequence animal diseases and improve emergency response capabilities at NAHLN veterinary diagnostic laboratories. This funding is in addition to the $2.5 million provided noncompetitively for NAHLN infrastructure.

Joint NADPRP/NAHLN

APHIS is awarding $4.3 million for seven NADPRP/NAHLN joint projects representing six states. These projects will support the development and/or evaluation of point-of-care diagnostic tests to enhance the nation’s ability to quickly detect high-consequence FADs and accelerate response and containment efforts. This is the first joint competitive funding opportunity provided by NAHLN and NADPRP.

Read More:

Animal Rights Extremists Take Their Cause to the Courtroom

Pig Farmers Commit to Sustainability: Here’s the Proof

The Chickens That Didn’t Cross the Road in Laredo

Mon, 22 Nov 2021 15:48:40 GMT

Federal agents foiled plans for 47 roosters and hens that tried to cross the U.S. border at the Laredo Port of Entry on Nov. 12.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers and agriculture specialists intercepted a large clutch of live poultry hidden throughout a vehicle. These live birds were hidden inside the purse of the passenger in addition to being concealed underneath the seats and floor mats, and inside the glove compartment and trunk of the vehicle.

A total of 47 fighting roosters and hens were discovered in this one enforcement action at the Gateway to the Americas Bridge, CBP reports .

“This is a large quantity of live animals, a significant violation of federal agriculture law uncovered by our frontline CBP officers and agriculture specialists and it resulted in a fine, the revocation of the driver’s SENTRI card and a vehicle seizure,” Port Director Alberto Flores, Laredo Port of Entry, said in a release. “We remind the traveling public that utilization of SENTRI is a privilege and violation of federal law revokes those privileges.”

The incident occurred when a U.S. citizen made entry via the SENTRI lane and was referred for inspection by CBP officers. At secondary, CBP officers discovered live poultry in stockings under the front seats. Because it was an agricultural finding, CBP agriculture specialists were called in to assist.

Upon the finding of these 47 birds, a $500 penalty was issued by a CBP agriculture specialist for attempting to import prohibited agriculture items while being a SENTRI card holder.

CBP reports the SENTRI card was picked up and turned in to the SENTRI Enrollment Center. The vehicle was then seized by CBP under 19 USC 1595 and the live poultry were transferred over to USDA Veterinary Services.

USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) regulations prohibit live birds, fresh eggs, and raw poultry from Mexico as Mexico is affected with Newcastle Disease and Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI). These diseases are serious concerns for poultry and are highly contagious. Attempting to bring in these prohibited items would lead to traveler delays and may result in a fine ranging from $300 to $1,000, CBP reminds.

CBP’s commitment to protect U.S. borders is of great importance to the U.S. livestock industry. Keeping the deadly disease of swine, African swine fever (ASF), out of U.S. borders is of significant concern to the pork industry as the first cases of this virus were recently discovered in the Western Hemisphere in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

More from Farm Journal’s PORK:

Close All the Windows to Keep ASF Out

ASF in the Western Hemisphere: What’s Different 40 Years Later?

It’s Time to Batten Down the Hatches, Pork Industry Experts Say

Learn more about what the industry is doing to prevent ASF from entering the country.

It’s Unlikely the U.S. Will Escape ASF

Fri, 20 Aug 2021 19:19:33 GMT

By Dennis DiPietre and Lance Mulberry

There is a palpable feeling of concern about the emergence of African swine fever (ASF) on U.S. soil now that it has entered our hemisphere on the island nation of the Dominican Republic. While there are lots of reasons to believe its presence there is not a sure sign it will penetrate the U.S. industry, still, everyone in the past two years has become acutely focused on the disease and how slippery it is to contain.

One of the biggest “educators” for lay citizens and industry professionals has come via the COVID-19 pandemic and its surprising re-emergence this summer when most viral diseases go dormant before springing back into action around October. For pork producers, the arrival of an especially virulent form of PRRS along with ASF in Germany and now again on a large farm in South Korea, and its leap from wild boars to seemingly biosecure production systems in Poland remind us disease control and elimination is possible but always fraught with high probability of failure.

I have been to the Dominican Republic and remember the re-entry into Miami International airport. It was one of the very few times customs agents didn’t wait for us to get to the entry hall; they met the plane at the gate and at stations along the pathway to entry, pulling aside entrants who somehow failed their profiling strategy for further questions. I vividly remember the open suitcases in the agricultural inspection area with raw, bloody meat laying on top of garbage bags and people being pulled aside right and left. Three cheers for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, but they will bluntly confess they interdict under 50% of such illegal personal baggage shipments.

Usually, the meat is destined for a family meal, cut in traditional ways unavailable in U.S. supermarkets, to support the preparation of ethnic dishes. The odds tend to favor containment in those situations since we no longer have millions of small hog farms where the scraps from such a meal might be fed to other pigs.

Such is especially the case in Florida and New York, the main entry points for travel into the U.S. from the Dominican Republic, where family pig farms are rare but feral hogs abound. Once eradication begins, a new incentive arises for moving pork out of the disease zone to capture some value. This was especially a problem in several Asian countries, where early signs of the disease on a farm resulted in reports of strategic depopulation to avoid the financial loss of condemnation that would likely follow if the diseased barns became well known and attracted regulatory interest. Since ASF does not harm humans, black market shipments of condemned carcasses at big discounts tend to make containment a vexing problem for months on end and threaten to push infected pork to the export market, destined for small international broker’s warehouses all over the globe.

We know ASF came to the Dominican Republic from some area of the world where it is present in wild boar or domestic pigs. There are more than a handful of countries now that could be the origin of this outbreak. It had to arrive by ship or aircraft, and pass through the inspection process, before making it to a farm. Whether it was carried in meat or live animals, processed feed or on contaminated clothing will be the subject of a very serious inquiry.

The U.S. industry has been way ahead of the ballgame developing containment and regionalization strategies and commitments to try to keep the export markets from complete freefall if the contagion arrives. However, those firewalls might give way depending on how long it is here before it is discovered and thereby how far it has spread before it is recognized.

Based on the number of follow-on cases in Germany after the first animal tested positive, it was on German soil a long time before it was “discovered.” While it might not be more likely just because it has been discovered in the Dominican Republic, it seems increasingly unlikely the U.S. will escape it because disease organisms are especially adept at eventually moving past all containment strategies. Combine that with the assistance of human greed, carelessness and a global market and its nearly an unbeatable combination.

Opinions expressed in this column are the opinions of Dennis DiPietre and Lance Mulberry and do not represent the opinions of Farm Journal’s PORK.

Read More from Farm Journal’s PORK:

USDA to Host Webinar Series on African Swine Fever in September

Philippines Says African Swine Fever Cases Waning, Sees Pork Surplus by 2023

African Swine Fever Moves Closer to Home

CBP Casts Wide Net to Assess African Swine Fever Threats to the U.S.

Oklahoma Makes Strides to Decrease Feral Swine Population

Keeping Up Our Defenses on ASF

China’s Sow Herd Shrinks in July, First Decline in Almost 2 Years

Oklahoma Makes Strides to Decrease Feral Swine Population

Thu, 19 Aug 2021 19:00:49 GMT

Efforts to control the feral pig population in Oklahoma are ahead of last year, USDA reports.

USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) created the National Feral Swine Damage Management Program, established by the 2018 Farm Bill, which brings under one umbrella damage management programs already in operation from coast to coast. As part of this effort, APHIS has been working to increase its involvement with tribal partners wanting to reduce problems caused by feral swine.

Scott Alls, state director of USDA’s Wildlife Services spoke on Tuesday at a USDA consult with tribes, Public Radio Tulsa reports.

Alls noted that 78% of his department’s work deals with feral hog management. Despite the pandemic slowing down efforts at public outreach, he said they’ve captured more swine this year than they did last year. In fact, the state is about 2,000 hogs ahead of where they were in 2020.

The project has removed 15,000 pigs to date, Public Radio Tulsa reports. The project was started in areas where the hog population wasn’t healthy or able to replenish itself quickly from neighboring populations.

Feral swine leave a path of destruction wherever they roam. Feral swine also have the potential to carry and spread more than 30 diseases, including several that could affect domestic swine herds and even humans.

More from Farm Journal’s PORK:

The Wild Hog Knows No Fear: True Stories of One of Ag’s Biggest Threats

Killing Hogzilla: Hunting A Monster Wild Pig

Monster-Sized Wild Pigs are on the Rise in Canada

Wild Pig Wars: Controversy Over Hunting, Trapping in Missouri

Texas Pork Producers Face Uphill Battle with Wild Pigs

Deadly Terrorist Threatens the Lone Star State’s Domestic Pig Herd

March of the Wild Pigs

Wild Pig Bomb Still Rocking Agriculture

Feds Issue New Rules for Importing Dogs from ASF-Positive Countries

Fri, 06 Aug 2021 20:27:37 GMT

The number of dogs being imported into the U.S. for resale from countries affected by African swine fever (ASF) is growing. Combine that with an increasing risk of foreign animal disease spread, and it’s a formula for potential disaster.

That’s why USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) issued a Federal Order on Friday establishing additional requirements that take effect immediately for dogs imported into the U.S. for resale from countries where ASF exists.

“Each year, several thousand dogs enter the country for resale or adoption. If even one of these animals carried ASF into the country, it could put the U.S. swine herd and other livestock in jeopardy and have disastrous consequences for our nation’s agriculture sector,” National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) Chief Veterinarian Liz Wagstrom said in a release. “We thank USDA for implementing these additional safety measures to prevent the spread of ASF to the United States.”

Effective immediately, importers of dogs into the U.S. for resale from a region in which ASF exists or is reasonably believed to exist, must submit written documentation verifying completion of the following requirements:

• The dog(s) and their shipping crate/container must be free of dirt, wood shavings, hay, straw, or any other organic/natural bedding material.

• All bedding that accompanies the dog(s) during transit must be properly disposed of at the U.S. post-entry point(s) of concentration.

• Each dog must have an ISO-compliant microchip implanted, and the individual microchip number must be verified immediately before each animal is bathed.

• Each dog must be bathed at the U.S. post-entry point(s) of concentration within two calendar days of arrival in the United States. Bathing must be documented in the Veterinary Services Dog Import Record.

ASF is not a threat to human health but is a highly contagious disease of wild and domestic swine that can spread rapidly in swine populations, leading to extremely high rates of morbidity and mortality, USDA explains.

This deadly virus of pigs can be transmitted via dogs’ fur and bedding, and due to the severity of the disease, APHIS remains committed to taking precautions to protect the U.S. swine population.

“USDA continues to work with a wide range of partners including the swine industry, our producers, other government agencies, and neighboring countries to keep ASF out of North America. At the same time, we have response plans in place and incident management teams ready to deploy in case ASF does reach the United States,” USDA said in a release.

Healthy Dog Importation Act
The Healthy Dog Importation Act, an American Veterinary Medicine Association (AVMA)-championed bill, was introduced in the Senate on Aug. 4.

Sens. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) introduced the act in an effort to build momentum for better standards related to dog importation. Recently, the AVMA reaffirmed its support for the legislation when Reps. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.) and Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), co-chairs of the Veterinary Medicine Caucus, reintroduced it in the House of Representatives.

If passed into law, USDA and other federal agencies would receive the necessary resources to responsibly screen the large number of dogs entering the U.S. each year, AVMA said in a release. It would also require every imported dog to have a certificate of veterinary inspection from a licensed veterinarian confirming the dog is of good health and not a risk to spread diseases that could endanger animal and public health.

“The evidence for the need to permanently improve dog importation standards is overwhelming,” José Arce, AVMA president, said in a release. “The recent CDC notice has emphasized the necessity to ensure dogs entering the country are in good health and not a risk to spread dangerous diseases. In order to protect public health, we must enact legislation that equips the federal government with the necessary resources to properly screen these dogs.”

The proposed legislation would help create an electronic database containing documentation and import permits to help streamline federal oversight.

“Maintaining animal health is critical to our nation’s overall public health goals. It’s important that we work to stop the spread of diseases that can hurt both animals and humans,” Grassley said in the release. “This commonsense proposal will expand an already existing program to ensure that all dogs entering the country are healthy and not at risk of spreading dangerous diseases.”

More information on ASF, partner resources and additional resources for producers and veterinarians are available on the APHIS ASF webpage .

Stay up to date on the latest ASF News .

Do Imported Rescue Dogs Pose Threat to Livestock Industry?

Wed, 31 Mar 2021 21:12:48 GMT

Each year, several thousand dogs enter the U.S. for resale or adoption. In a recent Hogs on the Hill article, National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) chief veterinarian Liz Wagstrom wrote that it’s time to sound the alarm on importing rescue dogs.

Why? Increasingly rescue dogs are being imported from countries where foreign animal diseases (FADs) such as African swine fever (ASF) are present. As the U.S. devotes funding and increases efforts to protect U.S. borders from possible threats that could harm our country, she explained this largely unknown FAD risk must be addressed to protect U.S. livestock and agriculture from FADs.

“While the dogs are not known to be susceptible to or carry FADs, there is the potential for bedding, crates or contamination of the dogs’ coats to serve as disease carriers. As a veterinarian, and a dog owner, this potential is alarming,” Wagstrom wrote.

Some of these dogs entering the U.S. may have been rescued from wet markets, while others from operations which raise dogs expressly for export. All it takes is one of these animals carrying an FAD into the country to put the U.S. swine herd and other livestock in jeopardy. Wagstrom wrote this could have disastrous consequences for our nation’s agriculture sector.

This risk is compounded because although both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the USDA have separate and distinct responsibilities over the importation of dogs, there is no single federal agency with comprehensive oversight of the issue, she added. There is also not a central federal website to apply for an import permit to bring dogs for sale or adoption into the country.

“A solution is within our grasp,” Wagstrom wrote. “USDA, under the Animal Health Protection Act, has the authority to develop rules for the safe importation of dogs from FAD-positive countries to protect the livestock industry. NPPC looks forward to continuing to work with the agency to ensure U.S. pork producers and our nation remains safe and protected from devastating FAD outbreaks.”

More from Farm Journal’s PORK:

It’s Time for a Better Approach for Disease Surveillance

African Swine Fever in China: A Truth Somewhere in Between, Vilsack Says

Will TADD Process Inactivate ASF Virus in Transport Trailers?

Vilsack Weighs In On Parallel Between COVID-19 and Animal Disease Outbreaks

Mon, 01 Feb 2021 13:36:43 GMT

If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught the country anything, USDA Secretary of Agriculture nominee Tom Vilsack said it’s that there is a tremendous amount of synergy between the circumstances of a pandemic involving humans and those involving animals.

During the Coalition for Epi Response, Engagement and Science (CERES) Biosecurity Infectious Disease Symposium at Colorado State University (CSU) on Jan. 28, Vilsack explored the parallels between the animal and human infectious disease pandemics with CSU Vice President for Research Alan Rudolph.

A coordinated response
Vilsack said there are three lessons learned from the pandemic that can help the country better prepare for future human and animal infectious disease outbreaks.

“It’s pretty clear. Lesson number one is the sooner you can detect a problem, the better,” Vilsack said. “Clearly, we didn’t respond aggressively to the pandemic early in the process and we are currently paying for that failure to early detect.”

The second lesson learned is that incredible coordination is required during a disease outbreak, whether it’s an animal disease situation or human disease situation, he said. This starts with the ability of every government level – local, state, federal – to coordinate and work together.

“We’re now seeing that the challenge with reference to the vaccine distribution not being well coordinated, and obviously lives are at stake,” Vilsack said. “Tragically, we are seeing in places like Los Angeles, difficulties with this issue as it relates to the pandemic. We’ve certainly seen it with animal disposal as well. We need a more effective and efficient disposal method.”

Thirdly, the country needs to be able to create, distribute and manufacture vaccines more quickly. All of this involves effective communication, he added.

“It’s pretty clear that we need to continue to invest in research and development, both in animal health and human health and understand the connection and coalition between the two. And that’s going to require some resources. Hopefully, we’ve learned from this pandemic, and previous experiences, that it’s important and necessary to invest in research and development,” Vilsack said.

Human and animal disease parallels
Being able to flex between human and animal disease research is important, Rudolph said. Many of the labs in the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) that sit on land-grant campuses have flexed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Many of these NAHLN diagnostic labs have shifted to being human CLIA diagnostic labs and really supported the infrastructure. We’ve seen a plasticity that I think is also a really interesting lesson learned – that we can flex between human and animal,” Rudolph said.

When Vilsack previously served as Secretary of Agriculture, the U.S. began building new assets to deal with large animal disease outbreaks like African swine fever and foot-and-mouth disease, Rudolph noted.

“It’s pretty clear that we needed to modernize our facilities,” Vilsack said. “Plum Island was in very difficult shape. And while it was isolated from the continental 48 states and had a significantly lower risk of an escape of some disease or problem that would cause significant problems in the animal world, the move to Manhattan, Kan., creates a very incredibly secure facility with modern capacity to do what we need to do to better understand the nature of disease, how viruses are formulated and how they mutate over a period of time.”

Vilsack said it will be an important asset in the effort to detect disease early and be able to more effectively respond and prevent. However, he said the challenge is that we will always be confronted with animal diseases of one sort or another.

“We learned from the avian influenza situation that it took us a while to figure out what, and then it took us a while to figure out how to produce a vaccine, and then it took us a little while to produce it, and then a little while to distribute it,” Vilsack said. “The reality was that we saw fairly significant destruction of chickens and turkeys that really impacted and affected consumers, and obviously affected producers.”

Because of the pandemic, he believes the country has a heightened awareness now of the necessity of being able to respond quickly and effectively – from a national security perspective and economic security perspective – if the U.S. is hit with a pandemic or animal disease outbreak.

Editor’s Note: The CERES coalition brings together six premier land grant universities: University of California-Davis, Texas A&M University, Colorado State University, Kansas State University, Iowa State University and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to mobilize land-grant university discoveries and innovations in agricultural infectious diseases. The coalition has integrated a network of federally funded bio-containment resources for surveillance, diagnostics and countermeasure production, while actively engaging communities through Extension engagement and outreach.

Read more:

ARS Advances Fight Against Deadly African Swine Fever Virus

5 Ways USDA Protected Animal Ag in 2020

Canada Fights Back Against Out-of-Control Wild Pig Population

K-9 “Kody” Sniffs Out Prohibited Sausages at Newark Airport

Animal Protein Sector Needs to Realign with 2020 Foodservice Survivors, CoBank Says

Canada Fights Back Against Out-of-Control Wild Pig Population

Wed, 20 Jan 2021 17:16:16 GMT

Wild pig populations in Canada continue to expand rapidly and are completely out of control in the prairie provinces of Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta, says Ryan Brook, an associate professor at the University of Saskatchewan, who studies the reproductive ecology of wild pigs.

Saskatchewan and Manitoba are home to 90% of all known occurrences of wild pigs in Canada. Given this information, Brook created a detailed map of all known wild pig occurrences in these provinces at the scale of the Rural Municipality, comparable to counties in the U.S.

“For producers in Canada or those in the U.S. concerned about wild pigs spilling over from Canada into the U.S., producers can look at the map and/or download the Google Earth files here and view them on any phone, tablet or computer after they install the free Google Earth app or program on their device or run it on any browser,” Brook adds. “Once that is set up, double click on the file and it will open and show all of the Rural Municipalities in Manitoba and Saskatchewan color coded to how many wild pigs have been spotted, with darker colors equaling more pigs.”

Brook and his team have been documenting wild pig occurrences using trail cameras, documented hunter harvested animals and through verified observations. The current map is based on 4,352 trail camera photos, 3,818 confirmed sightings and 800 hunter-harvested animals across Canada.

How does the tool work?
This new mapping tool allows producers to zoom into their farm and see the lay of the land with respect to the wild pig distribution in their area and the larger landscape. Since the home range of these feral swine is 135 square miles, they can cover large areas. Now producers can discover where the key “hotspots” are, Brook says.

“This tool can be used in combination with farmers’ own experiences and coffee talk about wild pigs in their area. This is especially important for wild pigs because as I’ve been working on this issue now for over a decade, I’ve seen so often how farmers have wild pigs on or near their lands and don’t even know about it because they are primarily nocturnal and hide in the heaviest cover available,” he says. “Unfortunately, that cover is often corn fields where they can do tremendous damage. Some farmers in southwestern Manitoba have said they can’t grow corn anymore because pigs are so destructive.”

(Farm Journal)

Photo: Dr. Ryan Brook, University of Saskatchewan

How can this help prevent disease transmission?
A critical first step in preventing crop damage or possible disease transmission is understanding risk. Brook says this tool can help producers understand the potential for occurrences of wild pigs.

“We know that wild pigs are attracted to all types of feed, from standing crops to spilled feed. Because wild pigs and domestic pigs are the same species, there is also a strong mating attraction. They will be attracted to any sows and gilts in heat,” Brook says.

He hopes this tool will be used to target and remove wild pigs from the landscape. In the meantime, producers can use this information to assess risk to their own farms and consider upgrading biosecurity to keep wild pigs away from domestic pig farms.

“I also encourage swine producers to consider purchasing trail cameras to place around their farms to detect if wild pigs are coming onto or near their farms,” he says.

This is complementary to the tool Brook built. When managing issues like wild pigs, he says there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach. Instead, he encourages producers to build the biggest toolbox possible with as many tools as possible to use as needed on their individual farm. His new mapping tool is one more tool to add to the toolbox, he adds.

Why should U.S. pig farmers take note?
“As wild pigs continue to expand out of control in Canada, the risk of wild pigs moving into the U.S. is very real. This is especially true for North Dakota and Montana, but given how mobile feral swine are, the risks are far beyond that,” Brook says.

This tool highlights areas of concern where pigs have been spotted close to the U.S.-Canada border. He says it also identifies the strongholds of wild pigs that are high functioning wild pig factories. The U.S. has established wild pig populations, but most northern U.S. states have few, if any feral swine. For example, Montana is entirely free of wild pigs at this time.

Although African swine fever (ASF) has not been detected in North America, if it did, Brook says wild pigs serve as a major concern for disease spread.

“It is well established in Asia and Europe that wild pigs can act as a reservoir and vector for ASF. Small investments of time and effort to address this potential disease concern now could prove invaluable,” he says.

Brook’s work has been funded by the USDA, the University of Saskatchewan and SaskPork. The Google map files can be downloaded from Brook’s wild pig Facebook page .

Read more here:

Monster-Sized Wild Pigs are on the Rise in Canada

Feral Swine in the U.S.: An Update on Disease Surveillance

Montana Puts Plan in Place to Keep Canadian Feral Hogs Out

Can You Really Trap Feral Pigs with Your Cell Phone?

Feral Swine: USDA Monitors World’s Worst Invasive Alien Species

How Colorado Eliminated Feral Hogs

Feral Hog Stomachs Tell Story of Destruction

Feral Swine Eradication: USDA invests $11.65 Million to Expand Program

Fri, 15 Jan 2021 16:04:27 GMT

An $11.65-million investment by the USDA will help agricultural producers and private landowners trap and control feral swine as part of the Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program. This new investment will fund 14 projects to expand the pilot program in Alabama, Hawaii, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas.

This program is a joint effort between USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). This second round of funding is for partners to carry out activities as part of the identified pilot projects in select states, USDA said in a release.

“These awards enable landowners to address the threat that feral swine pose to natural resources and agriculture,” NRCS Acting Chief Kevin Norton said. “The projects we have identified will be key to addressing the feral swine problem.”

NRCS will provide funding to partners who will provide financial assistance, education, outreach and trapping assistance to participating landowners in pilot project areas, USDA said. All partner work will be closely coordinated with the APHIS operations in these areas. Between the first and second round of funding, there will be a total of 34 active projects across 12 states for the life of the 2018 Farm Bill. Learn more here .

USDA said new pilot projects and areas were selected in coordination with NRCS state conservationists, APHIS state directors and state technical committees based on areas in greatest need of assistance due to high densities of wild pigs.

The three coordinated components of the projects include feral swine removal by APHIS, restoration efforts supported by NRCS and assistance to producers for feral swine control provided through partnership agreements with non-federal partners. Projects will be completed by the end of September 2023.

More from Farm Journal’s PORK:

Western States Unite to Keep Feral Pigs from Crossing U.S.-Canada Border

Can You Really Trap Feral Pigs with Your Cell Phone?

Feral Swine: USDA Monitors World’s Worst Invasive Alien Species

How Colorado Eliminated Feral Hogs

Feral Hog Stomachs Tell Story of Destruction

Montana Puts Plan in Place to Keep Canadian Feral Hogs Out

Texas Community Hires Consultant to Fight Feral Hog Problem

Western States Unite to Keep Feral Pigs from Crossing U.S.-Canada Border

Thu, 07 Jan 2021 22:32:06 GMT

Invasive species councils in Montana and Washington are serious about preventing Canadian feral pigs from crossing into the western United States.

The Montana Invasive Species Council and Washington Invasive Species Council formed a large working group in early 2020 that consisted more than 40 federal, state and Canadian feral swine experts, reports the Daily Inter Lake .

Throughout 2020, the two councils discussed the challenges and opportunities to prevent the animals from crossing through interstate and international borders. In December, the group published a report with recommendations that address five strategic areas of feral swine management: coordination, monitoring, reporting and notification, response, and control and management.

As wild pig populations expand in the western provinces of Canada and in the U.S. and African swine fever (ASF) continues to rage throughout the world, it’s more important than ever to ramp up measures to keep wild pig populations down.

One study from the University of Saskatchewan says these feral pigs have, on average, increased in their area by 5,400 square miles per year over the past decade. In total, experts estimate more than six million feral hogs exist in North America, the article said.

According to Ryan Brook, an associate professor at the University of Saskatchewan who studies the reproductive ecology of wild pigs, there are a lot of alarm bells going off in a number of places across the entire Canada-U.S. border. That boundary is a high-risk area for movement, Brook said.
These Canadian wild pigs are stacked up very close to the border.

“This is a real opportunity to be proactive rather than reactive,” Brook said. “Waiting for a problem (God help us all if ASF ever did show up), and then sort of scratching our heads saying, ‘Geez, I wonder if we should start to do something about these pigs.’ That’s way too little way too late.”

The Montana and Washington Invasive Species Councils are determined to bring light to the threat feral pigs pose.

“Feral swine don’t respect international borders or jurisdictions,” said Justin Bush, coordinator of the Washington Invasive Species Council, in the article. “This process [creating the new report] brought everyone in the neighborhood together to address this important issue.”

The final report details 22 recommendations, including expanding monitoring networks by partnering with non-traditional organizations such as hunting groups and formalizing notification protocols for reports that will be shared between state and provincial authorities along the international border. The report also encourages authorities to respond to confirmed sightings within 48 hours “with a goal of eliminating the entire sounder.”

The Montana Legislature passed a bill in 2015 banning feral swine and designating the Department of Livestock as the primary agency responsible for responding to reports of feral swine. Prohibitions include importing, transporting, or possessing live feral swine, or hunting, trapping or killing them.

Although some believe hunting seems like a good option, a 2020 report from Montana Assistant State Veterinarian Tahnee Szymanski, noted “due to reproductive efficiency and movement behavior, feral swine cannot be eradicated by simple hunting practices.” The study explains that hunting pressure that fails to eliminate all animals in a group (leaving a ‘sounder’) can result in further dispersion.

In 2019, the Montana Invasive Species Council launched the “Squeal on Pigs” campaign which created a single point of contact to simplify reporting and to ensure sightings reach the agency responsible for responding.

The Daily Inter Lake reports that the Saskatchewan government, the Alberta Invasive Species Council, the Manitoba and British Columbia governments and the Canada Wild Pig Initiative have already, or are in the process of, adopting the Squeal on Pigs campaign. The western states of Idaho and Washington have followed Montana’s lead.

Read more about the wild pig problem in Canada here .

More from Farm Journal’s PORK:

Can You Really Trap Feral Pigs with Your Cell Phone?

Feral Swine: USDA Monitors World’s Worst Invasive Alien Species

How Colorado Eliminated Feral Hogs

Feral Hog Stomachs Tell Story of Destruction

Montana Puts Plan in Place to Keep Canadian Feral Hogs Out

Texas Community Hires Consultant to Fight Feral Hog Problem

USDA Awards $14.4 Million in Farm Bill Funding to Protect Animal Health

Tue, 01 Dec 2020 19:38:43 GMT

The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is awarding $14.4 million to 76 projects with states, universities and other partners to strengthen animal health programs.

From increasing practical livestock biosecurity measures to advancing rapid depopulation and disposal abilities during high-consequence animal disease outbreaks, the funding will support endeavors to protect animal health in the U.S. According to a USDA release, the funding will also fund projects to enhance early detection of high-consequence animal diseases and improve emergency response capabilities at National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) veterinary diagnostic laboratories.

“We continue to use our Farm Bill funds to increase our capabilities and prepare for potential foreign animal disease incursions,” USDA Undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Greg Ibach said in the release. “Our consultation board and leaders in animal health and laboratory diagnostics provided recommendations for the type of projects we would fund, to make sure we were targeting these funds where they can make the most impact. Our partners across states, laboratories and industry alike will benefit from the projects we are funding today.”

This is the second year of funding from the 2018 Farm Bill as part of an overall strategy to help prevent animal pests and diseases from entering the country and reduce the spread and impact of potential disease incursions. Last year, APHIS provided $10.2 million to fund 44 projects.

This year’s funding will support:

National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program
$9.3 million will support 46 National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program (NADPRP) projects that will address critical livestock biosecurity and large-scale depopulation and carcass disposal concerns in all major livestock industries across all regions of the U.S. These projects will be led by state animal health authorities in 16 states,14 land-grant universities and 2 industry/veterinary organizations.

> 24 projects will focus on livestock biosecurity
> 22 projects will focus on large-scale animal depopulation and carcass disposal in animal disease outbreak response events
> 12 of the projects are national in scope
> 7 of the projects have a regional scope
> 27 projects focus on state-specific issues
National Animal Health Laboratory Network
$5.1 million will help fund 30 National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) projects to be led by NAHLN laboratories in 21 states. The projects will focus on early detection of high-consequence animal diseases and improve emergency response capabilities at NAHLN veterinary diagnostic laboratories. In addition, some of the projects are aimed at improving diagnostic testing for high concern diseases, including African swine fever, classical swine fever, foot-and-mouth disease and avian influenza.

Flying Pigs Make History at St. Louis Airport

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 15:42:58 GMT

The first shipment of breeding pigs to utilize the Livestock Export and Inspection Facility (LEIF) at St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL) took off for Sao Paulo, Brazil on Nov. 11. This group of pigs from Henderson, Tenn., made history as they left the airport aboard a Boeing 747-400F.

The LEIF-STL facility is an 18,000-square-foot dedicated and customizable facility designed for shipping livestock and horses and has been approved as a Port of Embarkation (POE) and Export Inspection Facility (EIF) since 2017.

However, recent focus by a number of entities, including the State of Missouri has brought success, the National Center for Beef Excellence (NCBE) said in a release. NCBE secured a Missouri Agriculture Small Business Development Authority grant to lend assistance to STL and the Midwest Cargo Hub Commission in promoting the facility.

“We are crossing a threshold that has been a long-time in coming. This could open up active trade around the world and new markets for Missouri and Midwest livestock,” said Chad Sayre, Chairman of NCBE, in the release.

(Farm Journal)

Photos provided by City of St. Louis

The LEIF-STL has an adjacent 12,000-square-foot open bay which will be used for the partial plane load to Brazil. The shipment to Brazil is the first of many hoped for overseas exports. Three more potential loads are being organized for shipment out of St. Louis, NCBE said in the release.

LEIF-STL is the only on-site 24/7 livestock palletizing facility in the U.S., right in the middle of a six-state livestock-rich supply area, including Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

“Due to African swine fever, much of the world’s swine herd has been depleted, including up to 70% of China’s swine population. The Midwest can play a significant role in helping to avoid or mitigate a world-wide protein shortage,” NCBE said in the release.

According to a release from STL, this comes at a time when air cargo operations at the airport continue to perform well. Overall, since September 2017, cargo is up more than 20.5%. To date, STL has had 128,702,074 pounds of cargo come through the airport this year.

More from Farm Journal’s PORK:

Will 2021 Be Different? Economists Weigh in on What’s Ahead

Researchers Analyze Risk for ASF Introduction into U.S. Via Airports

Don’t Assume Anything in 2021, Economists Advise Pork Producers