African Swine Fever In Wild Boar

The purpose of document is to provide fact based overview of ASF ecology in the Northern and Eastern European populations of wild boar and briefly describe a range of practical management and biosecurity measures or interventions, which can help stockholders in the countries experiencing large scale epidemic of this exotic disease to address the problem in a more coherent, collaborative and comprehensive way. The handbook should not be viewed as an authoritative manual providing readymade solutions on how to eradicate ASF from wild boar. The facts, observations and approaches described in the document are presented with the intention to broadly inform veterinary authorities, wildlife conservation bodies, hunting community, farmers and general public about complexity of this novel disease and the need to wisely plan and carefully coordinate any efforts aiming at its prevention and control.

African swine fever (ASF) is a devastating haemorrhagic viral disease affecting domestic and wild pigs of all ages and sexes. This disease causes massive economic losses, threatens food security and trade, and presents a serious challenge for the pig production sector in affected countries. ASF also threatens the biodiversity conservation of several Asiatic wild Suidae. Since ASF was first introduced in Georgia in 2007, the disease has spread to many countries in Europe, Asia and the Pacific, and in 2021, it was detected in the Caribbean states of the Dominican Republic and Haiti, both in the Americas. In much of its Euro-Asiatic range, the African swine fever virus (ASFV) infects wild boar, which sometimes act as the main – if not the only – epidemiological reservoir of the infection, keeping it in the environment regardless of the presence of infected domestic pigs. The presence of the virus in wild boar populations is a continuous health threat for the sympatric domestic pig population, posing a challenge for veterinary and wildlife services that have had little success in attempting to eradicate infections among wildlife, especially in the absence of an effective vaccine. Finally, areas in which ASFV is detected in wild boar remain infected for at least one year after the last recorded case. This is a much longer period than that of domestic animals and puts a strain on the services involved, requiring a considerable amount of work and human and financial resources. The second edition of the handbook provides insights on surveillance and disease management in wild boar based on experiences with ASFV eradication in Belgium and Czechia, as well as other recent experiences in the prevention and control of the disease in wild boar in Europe.

The recent introduction and spread of African swine fever (ASF) into Europe and Asia has shown that an integrated, multidisciplinary effort is needed to tackle this disease and the complex challenges it poses. This book presents practical guidelines on surveillance for detection of ASF virus, how to prevent outbreaks in the domestic pig sector through biosecurity and cleaning and disinfection routines, including in backyard holdings, and how to control and eradicate this disease in wild boar. Information on pathological lesions and diagnostic practices are provided to support practitioners. Virus infection mechanisms and the consequent host immune response are reported together with an overview on the status of vaccine and treatment development. Information on ASF epidemiology and the European wild boar and domestic pig populations is presented to assist breeders, wildlife managers and policy makers in designing practices aimed at preventing, or controlling and eradicating, this disease. The book provides currently available knowledge in a single place, and identifies knowledge gaps, prompting policy makers and funding bodies to support the scientific community in investigating the gaps.

Given the current worsening of the African swine fever situation worldwide, this field manual will be aimed to assist veterinarians in the prompt recognition and detection of the disease and the immediate control steps at farm level.

African swine fever (ASF) is endemic in some parts of eastern and southern Africa. The introduction of ASF into free areas leads to losses because of the devastating effects it causes. In order to minimize these losses, it is essential that there is a strong early warning and early reaction capacity. The key to such a system is disease recognition. The purpose of this manual is to enhance recognition of ASF at all levels for early warning and early reaction, so that the disease can be identified and eliminated at its earliest appearance in any area. Special attention has been given to the clinical, anatomical and pathological similarity of African swine fever with classical swine fever.

African swine fever (ASF) is a highly fatal infectious disease of domestic and wild pigs of all breeds and ages with no effective vaccine or treatment. The incursion of ASF into Asia and the Pacific region has been a major concern as the region is the major pig production area, which produces over 58 percent of pigs globally (FAOSTAT). The concerns, therefore, are growing for its impacts on food security and economics as the virus is expanding towards more areas and countries in the region. As the disease continues to expand into new territories, preparedness and control activities need to be constantly adjusted to adapt to situations observed in the field that may be contrary to what was expected based on international standards or experiences from other parts of the world. National veterinary services face challenges in these complex situations, and so regional and international support is needed to fill capacity gaps required for ASF control and to facilitate dialogue among key stakeholders. Through various regional and national consultation meetings, affected countries have requested technical support to make available relevant technical guidelines for ASF control that are practical especially for smallholder pig farmers in the context of Asia (SO5). This [Culling and disposal of pigs in an ASF outbreak] is the second of the series of the “Guidelines for African swine fever (ASF) prevention and control in smallholder pig farming in Asia” which provides guidance on planning and conducting pig culling and disposal operations in smallholder setting including other relevant actions, such as cleaning and disinfection of premises in the event of an ASF outbreak.