African Swine Fever

Scientists with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) announced that a vaccine candidate for African Swine Fever (ASF) passed an important safety test required for regulatory approval, moving the vaccine one step closer to commercial availability.

The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has announced new efforts to help prevent the introduction and spread of African swine fever in the U.S. Through an outreach and awareness campaign called “Protect Our Pigs,” APHIS will support commercial pork producers, veterinarians, and pig owners with information and resources to help safeguard America’s swine population and the pork industry.

APHIS is deploying a variety of outreach efforts to support critical stakeholders. The new Protect Our Pigs website, aphis.usda.gov/ProtectOurPigs, will house materials such as downloadable fact sheets and posters, instructional videos, shareable social media graphics, a new interactive biosecurity guide, and offer the latest disease updates. If African swine fever is detected in the U.S., APHIS will also be ready to respond immediately with actionable information and resources for pig owners and the public.

As part of these outreach efforts, on June 29 at 3 p.m. EDT, APHIS will host African Swine Fever: What You Need to Know, which will feature a panel of experts representing the pork industry, pig owners and veterinarians who will discuss the latest on the disease, protective actions and respond to questions.

As part of its continuing efforts to respond to the detection of African Swine Fever (ASF) in the Dominican Republic (DR) and prevent its introduction into the Conterminous United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is preparing to establish a Foreign Animal Disease protection zone in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. ASF has not been detected in Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands, and USDA is committed to keeping it out of both islands and the rest of the United States. Out of an abundance of caution, APHIS is taking this additional action to further safeguard the U.S. swine herd and protect the interests and livelihoods of U.S. pork producers.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today applauded research and protection efforts underway at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to prevent the spread of African Swine Fever virus, which has been causing devastating losses to the swine industry across the globe. "USDA agencies are working together to protect U.S. livestock from foreign and emerging animal diseases that could harm our economy and public health," said Secretary Vilsack. "I am proud of the extraordinary research underway at the Agricultural Research Service to develop vaccine candidates to prevent African Swine Fever virus. In addition, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has done tremendous work to establish protection zones to safeguard the entire U.S. swine industry."

African Swine Fever (ASF) was originally detected in 2007 in the Republic of Georgia and is known to cause virulent, deadly disease outbreaks in wild and domesticated swine. Since the original outbreak, ASF has had a widespread and lethal impact on swine herds in various countries in Eastern and Central Europe and throughout Asia. Although the virus is causing profound economic losses to the swine industry, there have not been any U.S. outbreaks.

Next-generation laboratory gives USDA scientists the ability to expand research established at Plum Island. Scientists have been helping other countries in a united front against foreign animal diseases. These efforts also help the U.S. prepare for and prevent a potential introduction of a high-consequence livestock disease. African swine fever virus, or ASFV, is among the most concerning animal disease pathogens currently circulating the globe. While the pathogen doesn’t affect humans and has not been seen in U.S. swine, it is economically affecting the pork industry.

Feral swine can carry foreign animal diseases like African Swine Fever. While ASF has never been found in domestic or feral swine in the United States, there is no treatment or vaccine for it. That’s why surveillance is very important. Help protect U.S. pigs by immediately reporting sick or dead feral swine.

WHAT TO DO: If you find a sick or dead feral swine with no obvious injury or cause of death, report it right away. Call the USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services program in your State at 1-866-4-USDA-WS. Don’t wait! Quick detection is essential to preventing the spread of ASF.