August 18, 2021

Leaders of US pork industry doing everything to keep ASF out, says pork official

Industry leaders of the US pork sector are doing everything they can to keep it uninfected from African swine fever (ASF), Bill Even, chief executive officer of the National Pork Board, told Radio Oklahoma.

While the US Pork Board leadership and its members are working to prevent ASF, they are also preparing for it to spread to the US.

According to Even, ASF is a regulated foreign animal disease, which means if a nation finds swine infected with ASF, exports immediately stop.

With ASF reported in the Dominican Republic, a huge concern is the proximity of the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico, a US territory.

"This is the first time we've seen ASF in the western hemisphere since about 1980," Even said. "If ASF spread to Puerto Rico, it would be viewed as if the disease was spreading in the (continental) US."

In any given year, the United States exports between 25% and 30% of its total pork production, Even said.

- Oklahoma Farm Report