Epidemiology Diagnosis And Control Of Helminth Parasites Of Swine

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 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 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.

The benefit of an adequate framework for the management of animal health emergency operations has been repeatedly shown over the years, highlighting a need to build and upgrade capabilities to effectively and efficiently manage animal health emergency operations at all levels. This need can begin to be met through the guidance provided in this manual. Equipped with practical examples, samples and guidelines, this manual supports countries and relevant local, national, regional and international organizations as they prepare for and manage operations during an animal health emergency. The manual is designed to be used in line with the 'Good Emergency Management Practice: The Essentials' manual, applying Good Emergency Management Practice (GEMP) principles and a One Health approach, and providing a global view of how to act during the peacetime and emergency phases of animal health events. This global manual is presented in such a way that veterinary services and relevel local authorities in countries around the world can use the information therein as guidance to create or adapt their own systems, and build a customized emergency operations management manual.

Animal health emergencies are evolving, but they remain among the most challenging situations a country can confront. Infectious diseases and other threats have increasing potential to spread rapidly within a country or around the world due to growing populations, concentration of animal populations and market intensification, human and animal movement, and global trade. This international GEMP Essentials guide is meant to support the advancement of key components of emergency management as countries continue efforts to work and prepare together. It sets out in a systematic way the elements required to achieve an appropriate level of preparedness and proposes an approach to animal health emergency management inclusive of all type of events, be they caused by natural phenomenon, including not infectious events, or by accidental or deliberate human action. The guide also includes the One Health approach.