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U.S. pouring resources into African swine fever prevention

The director of swine lending for Compeer Financial is encouraged by efforts at the border to keep African swine fever out of the U.S.

Kent Bang tells Brownfield having resources available to maintain screenings is critical.

“It will take a lot of work and it takes a lot of diligence to keep it out, and that takes money. And there’s a significant amount of money going into that. We’ve been successful as an industry to putting more beagles at airports (and) ports of entry.”

He says despite ASF being in the Western Hemisphere for the first time in four decades, it’s not a forgone conclusion the disease will infect the U.S. hog herd.

“Is it inevitable that we get it here? I think it’s not. There are a couple other diseases that spread just as readily, one is Foot and Mouth Disease. We’ve been free of Foot and Mouth Disease I believe in the U.S. for 70 years.”

Bang says classical swine fever is another foreign animal disease that’s long been in the Western Hemisphere that the U.S. has successfully kept at bay. 

African swine fever was detected in the Dominican Republic in August and has quickly spread throughout that country and into Haiti.   

Bang made these comments on a What’s Happening in the Swine Industry podcast, a Brownfield content partnership with Compeer Financial.

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