Relevant Measures to Prevent the Spread of African Swine Fever in the European Union Domestic Pig Sector

Abstract

During the past decade, African swine fever (ASF) has spread from the Caucasus region to eastern European Union countries affecting domestic pig and wild boar populations. In order to avert ASF spread, mitigation measures targeting both populations have been established. However, despite these efforts, ASF has been reported in thirteen different countries (Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Moldova, Czech Republic, and Romania). In the absence of an effective vaccine or treatment to ASF, introduction and spread of ASF onto domestic pig farms can only be prevented by strict compliance to control measures. This study systematically reviewed available measures to prevent the spread of ASF in the EU domestic pig sector distinguishing between commercial, non-commercial, and outdoor farms. The search was performed in PubMed and using a common browser. A total of 52 documents were selected for the final review process, which included scientific articles, reports, EU documents and official recommendations, among others. From this literature review, 37 measures were identified as preventive measures for the introduction and spread of ASF. Subsequently, these measures were assessed by ASF experts for their relevance in the mitigation of ASF spread on the three mentioned types of farms. All experts agreed that some of the important preventive measures for all three types of farms were: the identification of animals and farm records; strict enforcement of the ban on swill feeding; and containment of pigs, so as to not allow direct or indirect pig–pig and/or pig–wild boar contacts. Other important preventive measures for all farms were education of farmers, workers, and operators; no contact between farmers and farm staff and external pigs; appropriate removal of carcasses, slaughter residues, and food waste; proper disposal of manure and dead animals, and abstaining from hunting activities during the previous 48 h (allowing a 48 h interval between hunting and being in contact with domestic pigs). Finally, all experts identified that the important preventive measures for non-commercial and outdoor farms is to improve access of those farms to veterinarians and health services.

Risk assessment of African swine fever in the south‐eastern countries of Europe

“…Preparedness and response activities, including movement registration, passive surveillance and contingency planning, are central to this. Further, animal identification and farm records were identified as important preventive measures for ASF by a recent panel of experts (Jurado et al., ). Experiences from the ongoing epidemic in Europe and elsewhere suggest that any delay in detection of an incursion of ASF into a free area, and so a delay in implementation of control measures, will increase the probability for further spread of the disease.…”

“…Each of these factors will contribute to the potential for connectedness between regions, either via people (people movement, shared borders, commercial hunting, hunting tourism) or pigs and pork products (trade of pigs and pork/products, shared borders). These connections are recognised as risk factors for ASF spread from ASF‐infected regions (Bellini et al., ; Jurado et al., ). Indicators related to the societal context – Risk of poverty: share of the total population at risk of poverty or social exclusion by country. …”

“…For instance, several FVO audits from Romania (European Commission, 2017;2018) have noted high levels of non-compliance among smallholders with key EU regulations relating to disease control, including pig identification, registration and movement, constraining efforts to control the disease. Similar findings were also reported by the National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority of Romania in the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority Romania, 2019) in July 2019, e.g.…”

Surveillance and control of African Swine Fever in free‐ranging pigs in Sardinia

“…In Cappai et al (2018) concluded that the presence of free-ranging pigs caused a sevenfold increase in the risk of ASF outbreaks in each municipality. Finally, Jurado et al (2018) in their review and expert opinion consensus found that one of the most important preventive measures is the containment of pigs, as this prevents contact with pigs from other farms, feral pigs or wild boars/their products. However, none of these studies provide detailed information on the actual occurrence of ASF in the freeranging pigs, as they escaped the veterinary authorities and were not subjected to ASF testing.…”

A novel multi-epitope recombinant protein for diagnosis of African swine fever

“…Therefore, the serological detection method is one of the commonly used diagnostic methods for ASFV due to the simple operation steps and low cost. It is one of the important methods for diagnosing and monitoring pigs infected with African swine fever virus [14].…”