Mary Wilson
Well-known member
25 APR 2023
BY DENNIS NORMILE
Southeast Asia is preparing for a long war against African swine fever (ASF), a highly infectious and lethal disease that reached China in 2018 and has since spread south, threatening both domestic and wild pigs. After plans to eliminate it by euthanizing pigs on a large scale proved economically, logistically, and politically unworkable, authorities throughout the region have recognized that “we’ve got to learn to live with the virus,” says Dirk Pfeiffer, a veterinary epidemiologist at the City University of Hong Kong.
The emerging approach focuses on bolstering biosecurity at legions of small farms by isolating domestic pigs from wild and roving swine, improving sanitation, and eliminating pork scraps from feed. Experts believe such modest steps would work best if part of a coordinated regional strategy. This disease “doesn’t respect borders,” says Karma Rinzin, a veterinary epidemiologist at the World Organisation for Animal Health who will gather with other specialists to hammer out a multinational strategy at a 2–4 May meeting in Manila, Philippines, sponsored by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
ASF is harmless to humans but causes high fever, internal bleeding, and fluid-filled lungs in pigs, killing up to 90% of infected animals. ...
https://www.science.org/content/article/african-swine-fever-settles-asia
BY DENNIS NORMILE
Southeast Asia is preparing for a long war against African swine fever (ASF), a highly infectious and lethal disease that reached China in 2018 and has since spread south, threatening both domestic and wild pigs. After plans to eliminate it by euthanizing pigs on a large scale proved economically, logistically, and politically unworkable, authorities throughout the region have recognized that “we’ve got to learn to live with the virus,” says Dirk Pfeiffer, a veterinary epidemiologist at the City University of Hong Kong.
The emerging approach focuses on bolstering biosecurity at legions of small farms by isolating domestic pigs from wild and roving swine, improving sanitation, and eliminating pork scraps from feed. Experts believe such modest steps would work best if part of a coordinated regional strategy. This disease “doesn’t respect borders,” says Karma Rinzin, a veterinary epidemiologist at the World Organisation for Animal Health who will gather with other specialists to hammer out a multinational strategy at a 2–4 May meeting in Manila, Philippines, sponsored by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
ASF is harmless to humans but causes high fever, internal bleeding, and fluid-filled lungs in pigs, killing up to 90% of infected animals. ...
https://www.science.org/content/article/african-swine-fever-settles-asia
