Page 14 - Australia Pork Newspaper

A dead and decomposed warthog in Poland. Dead wild pigs may not be found for months. This carcass was still infective.
Pigs that died from ASF in Russia.
A content Asian wild boar mum and piglets – all at risk to ASF.
An African warthog.
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to rule it out quickly. Some pigs will sur- vive ASF, including wild
Disinfectants will de- stroy the virus – sodium hydroxide, hypochlorites, formalin, phenols and io- dine compounds are all effective.
Stopping the spread relies heavily on the surveillance and openness from the whole farm health team.
Do not allow employees to bring pork products on the farm and always wash your hands in soap and water before handling the pigs.
John Carr
James Cook University, Townsville
The horror of African swine fever in Europe is now hitting China
FOLLOWING its in- • Initial constipation, This is especially true Farms can recover from If you suspect a prob-
troduction in 2007 in Georgia, African swine fever virus is now well established in the west of Russia, the Baltic re- gion, Ukraine, Poland, Romania and the Czech Republic – well into the European Union.
giving way to diarrhoea. Dramatic haemorrhage is a feature at the nose and rectum, with blood
for any of the excellent Chinese workers on our Australian farms.
PED, but farms cannot re- cover, without depopula- tion and lots of hard work, from ASF.
lem, ask your veterinarian – do not pretend it’s not happening.
The pathogen continues to fan out in all directions. The disaster of August 2018 was China, with 46 percent of the world’s pig population, reported its
pig following infection. Farmers have to realise ASF affects pigs of all age groups, whereas most other conditions that may produce similar signs do not – this is the best way
Pig movement is always a serious risk, especially moving pigs to the slaugh- terhouse to try to salvage something from the deci- mation on the farm.
We cannot wait for sci- ence to save us.
first cases.
This poses additional
boars.
They are then a huge
This is not a disease you can hide, whether you have just one pig or 50,000.
threats to the Australian industry.
risk factor for spread of disease because they re- main carriers for the rest of their lives and can in- fect other pigs at any time. Control and treatment
ASF is a large DNA vi- rus that is closely related to pox viruses and some insect viruses.
Even soap will kill the virus.
There are at least 22 dif- ferent types of the virus.
There is no treatment for ASF.
Disinfectants must be used at the correct con- centration, but the biggest issue is the surface to be disinfected must be clean.
The virus is insect- borne, naturally living in the soft body tick carios (ornithodorus) moubata, which lives in Africa.
Currently, there is no vaccine, though trials are being carried out.
Cleaning takes time and patience, and attention to detail is vital if the pro- cess is to be effective.
Unfortunately, it is also able to replicate in pigs, sus scrofa (the wild and domestic pig), but also the warthog, giant forest hog, red river hog and even the peccaries of the Ameri- cas.
Twenty-two different strains of the virus make life very difficult.
With ASF, mediocrity will not be enough.
The clinical signs of ASF can be dramatic but they also resemble a num- ber of other conditions, and the most important in Asia is classical swine fever.
A pig is infected by eat- ing infected pig products. All body secretions of
African swine fever is rapidly becoming the next great, and probably the greatest, threat to the European and Asian pig herd; its effects are poten- tially catastrophic – worse than PRRS, PMWS or PED.
The key feature is pigs die en masse.
infected pigs have large amounts of virus present, including faeces, urine, blood and any part of the carcass.
Perimeter fencing on farms needs to be significant to stop pigs entering the unit.
Signs similar to ASF
Exactly the same – but most pigs in China are vaccinated
Mainly finishing pig mortality
Diamond lesions
Intestinal lesions
Death in younger pigs
Mainly finishing pig mortality
Weaners and newly introduced pigs die Low mortality and sneezing
Sows may abort but high mortality in finishing unlikely
While many pigs die suddenly, some survive for a week (two to 10 days) and they may present with a variety of clinical signs:
The virus can survive for years in meat products and two to three weeks in faeces.
Pathogen/disorder
Classical swine fever
Actinobacillus pleuropneumonia Erysipelas
Salmonellosis
Aujeszky’s disease
Pasteurella
Haemophilus parasuis
Swine influenza
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome
• High temperature – usually causing sows to abort, which is often the first dramatic sign;
Dead wild boar act as a reservoir for other curious wild boar.
• The pigs stop eating;
To control the virus, regional stamping out is practised over a 10km zone around the affected animal(s).
• Pens are unusually quiet and pigs look de- pressed;
It is absolutely essential Chinese visitors do not bring any pork products overseas.
•There may be skin colour changes with red blotches; and
Table 1: Disorders that may typically resemble African swine fever.
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Page 14 – Australian Pork Newspaper, September 2018
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spots evident on the skin. The signs can take three weeks to develop in the
When biosecurity is poor, pig products can be moved by vehicles, equip- ment, clothing and boots.
This is a problem for all of us because even if a farm practises exemplary biosecurity, a case of ASF within 10km is likely to result in government ac- tion to slaughter the pigs.
With no vaccine, we have to rely on prompt detection and slaughter to control this terrible dis- ease.
A vaccine against the type II strain would be an invaluable tool in the control of the disease. Stopping the spread of the virus
Clean it before you dis- infect it!
Outcome
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