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ASF continues to spread in Germany

African swine fever continues to spread in Germany and Indiana state veterinarian Dr. Bret Marsh says the inability to contain the disease is concerning. “Unfortunately, the countries around the globe that have dealt with ASF, none of them have been successful in eliminating it,” he says.  “It gives us all pause here in the United States as to what that threat could be for us.”

The latest case of ASF was detected in a wild boar in a German state along the Poland border.  This brings the wild boar cases to 2,800.  The news came shortly after the disease was confirmed in a pig finishing site, where more than 4,000 hogs had to be euthanized.

Marsh tells Brownfield biosecurity and herd monitoring remain crucial components to keep the disease out of the U.S.  “It’s not a vesicular disease, so we’re not looking for vesicles at the coronary band or on snouts,” he says.  “It may be more subtle, so we’re looking at different ways to do surveillance in swine farms across our state.”

ASF was detected in the Western Hemisphere for the first time in 40 years earlier this summer.  “The diagnosis of African swine fever in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, this island of Hispaniola – we’re just hundreds of miles from the Florida shore,” he says. 

Brownfield interviewed Marsh at the Midwest Pork Conference on Tuesday.

AUDIO: Bret Marsh, Indiana state veterinarian