Producers need to prepare for African swine fever shutdown

Jul 04, 2023

When African swine fever appears, producers will face the sort of shock they experienced in 2020.

“The COVID packing plant backup and shutdown gives us a preview of the impacts that can have,” said Dr. Anna Forseth in an interview at the World Pork Expo.

ASF has spread across Asia into Europe, all the way to the Atlantic coast, and sent chills down the spines of the North American hog industry when it appeared in the Caribbean.

Pork industries in Canada, the United States and Mexico have been working feverishly to prepare, but whenever it appears, the short-term impact will be severe.

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Video: ASF Control Lessons - Dr. Mary-Louise Penrith

In this episode of The Swine it Podcast Show Canada, Dr. Mary-Louise Penrith, Extraordinary Professor at the University of Pretoria, shares what decades of work have revealed about ASF control. She explains why vaccine development remains difficult, how human activity and food waste drive disease spread, why resistant pig populations are an important research area, and how strict biosecurity with the right disinfectants can help to stop transmission. Listen now on all major platforms!

"It's really a very human-driven disease because people move pigs, decide how they're raised, how they're sold, and good biosecurity can do anything to ensure control."

Meet the guest: Dr. Mary-Louise Penrith / mary-louise-penrith-2b12bb42 is an Extraordinary Professor in the Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. A veterinarian and internationally recognized researcher, she has dedicated decades to African swine fever epidemiology, control, and pig health, supporting FAO and WOAH initiatives while advancing research and education. Listen to Dr. Mary-Louise Penrith on the Swine Health Blackbelt Podcast, available on all major platforms.