Page 10 - Australian Pork Newspaper

FARMERS and FEED MILLERS
SFMC A FeedSafe Accredited
FOR ALL YOUR REQUIREMENTS OF:
Soya beans used in our meals are NOT genetically modified!
CONTACT:
SOYA FEEDSPTY LTD
Bennie St, Industrial Estate, Dalby
Ph (07) 4662 4333
A/Hrs (07) 4663 5534
We use whole soya beans not gradings to supply you with a quality meal
Feed ingredients could transport African swine fever
DR Dave Pyburn, vice president of science and technology at the Na- tional Pork Board in Des Moines, Iowa, US, has provided an update on the African swine fever situation in Asia and the associated risk of the virus being transported into the US.
“When we look at China in particular, we might as well consider that African swine fever has pretty well spread throughout most of the country, including that southern portion of the country where they produce an awful lot of pigs – well more than half of the pigs on the globe are produced in China,” Dr Pyburn said.
“That’s a lot of pigs available to be affected or infected with African swine fever.
“So it’s a concern for us
as far as being a potential source of virus that can somehow eventually and potentially make its way over here.”
The biggest concern Dr Pyburn noted is there could be risk materi- als that could transport the virus to the US from China or from any of the infected countries.
One of the primary risk materials is feed and feed ingredients.
“Dr Scott Dee’s research has shown that in fact you can transport the virus,” he said.
“Transport is not trans- mission, but you can transport the virus live from China to the US po- tentially in some of the feedstuffs we’re buying from China.”
In 2014, Dr Dee and his team were deciphering how porcine epidemic di-
arrhoea virus had entered the US – a virus that, prior to the 2013 outbreak, had never before been in North America.
Dr Dee’s PED research model clearly showed certain feed ingredients supported the PED vi- rus through a simulated journey from Beijing to Shanghai to San Fran- cisco, California to Des Moines, Iowa.
In his recent research, he wanted to see if other viruses, including African swine fever, could survive that journey as well.
Dr Dee said the US in- dustry is pretty well con- vinced PED was brought into the US from China through feed components, based on genetic mapping.
But beyond PED, China has several diseases the US and other countries do not have in their commer-
cial herds such as pseu- dorabies, classical swine fever, foot and mouth disease and most recently African swine fever.
“We’re concerned that potentially we could be putting these viruses in front of our animals,” Dr Pyburn said.
“There are many ways to mitigate some of the risk.
“You can mitigate it through additions to the feed to kill the virus, but another way too would be the ability to test and know that what you have is a safer feed material.”
Many swine feed com- ponents are currently im- ported into the US from China.
“A number of amino ac- ids, vitamins and minerals come in from China,” Dr Pyburn said.
“Some of which we can and do make in the US, but some of which we don’t have the capacity to make here at this time, so we’ve got to order them from China.
“They are needed for our complete swine diets.” Originally published at
thepigsite.com
All-new ASF COMBAT app
Approved in pregnant and lactating sows, providing reliable protection for your whole herd
Consistent protection, every time
Proven efficacy against PCV2 without compromising safety
Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Australia Pty. Ltd. Level 1, 78 Waterloo Road, North Ryde NSW 2113. ABN 53 071 187 285. CircoFLEX® is a registered trademark of the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica GmbH – used under licence. All rights reserved. AUS/CIRCOFL-181001
COMBAT (Comprehen- sive Online Management and Biosecurity Assess- ment Tool) is a new app developed by Boehringer Ingelheim to help farm- ers and veterinarians evaluate and improve the level of biosecurity, pig flow and management procedures.
African swine fever is a devastating viral infec- tion of pigs causing severe clinical disease and high mortality.
The disease cannot be treated and there are cur- rently no effective vac- cines available.
On a daily basis, pig farms are facing multiple biosecurity risks, but some of them remain unnoticed.
The recent outbreaks of ASF in Asia and parts of Europe have highlighted the need for farms to be prepared and understand
the risks they face.
The COMBAT app has
a detailed set of 55 ques- tions based on the known biosecurity risks for ASF.
Depending on your re- sponses, the app will provide an indicative risk score as well as recom- mendations to build and maintain the highest pos- sible biosecurity around your farm so you have the best odds to prevent Afri- can swine fever.
You can either do the survey anonymously or you can sign up for free and save the results for future use.
If you would like to find out more about the ASF COMBAT app or improv- ing biosecurity on your farm, please contact your local Boehringer Ingel- heim Territory Manager or go to prevent-asf.com
For your free farm risk assessment
Go to www.prevent-asf.com
Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Australia Pty. Ltd. Level 1, 78 Waterloo Road, North Ryde NSW 2113. ABN 53 071 187 285. AUS/SWI-191004a
Page 10 – Australian Pork Newspaper, April 2019
www.porknews.com.au