October 23, 2019

US food research foundation, National Pork Board develop tools to detect spread of ASF
 

The US-based Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) and the National Pork Board (NPB) have awarded US$535,780 to research teams at Kansas State University and Iowa State University to study how African swine fever survives and how to test pigs for the virus, FFAR announced on October 22.

 

The fund is part of an effort to keep the United States ASF-free and protect the nation's pig herds.

 

According to FFAR, the US produces 125 million pigs annually.

 

"We remain committed to investing Pork Checkoff funds in strategic ways, such as this collaboration to find new ways to protect our domestic swine herd from foreign animal disease threats," said David Newman, president of the National Pork Board and a producer representing Arkansas.

 

"Understanding how African swine fever survives can help us create better techniques for controlling the spread of this costly virus and reduce the odds of a domestic outbreak."

 

Even though ASF does not affect human health, it threatens the US$20 billion-dollar US swine industry and the 550,000 American jobs created by the industry.

 

To date, only limited research funding is available, which is why FFAR and the National Pork Board are collaborating on funding research projects to diagnose and manage an ASF outbreak in the US.

 

The main focus for producers is preventing the virus from entering the US and preparing the industry by understanding the survivability mechanisms of the virus, FFAR said. This knowledge will help to identify strategies to keep the virus out of the country and assist in creating rapid and accurate virus identification techniques in case ASF does reach the US.

 

Research funded in this collaboration includes studies by Kansas State University and Iowa State University. Kansas State University researchers seek to understand how ASF survives and continues to infect other animals in various environments.

 

If scientists understand how the disease spreads, they will be better able to control, or even stop, the spread of this virus, FFAR said.

 

Additional work at Kansas State University is developing tests to detect ASF. A third project is creating diagnostic test to quickly test entire herds for the disease.

 

Iowa State University researchers are focusing on how best to identify foreign animal diseases at low prevalence in large commercial pens using oral fluid samples. This test allows farmers to string a rope in the pen - pigs will naturally chew on the rope after which the rope can be tested to detect for traces of targeted viruses.

 

"There is no time to waste. We must work quickly, and through partnership with the National Pork Board, to drive solutions pork producers can use to detect and manage infected animals if the virus reaches the US. This research may be the key to dramatically reducing any potential spread of African swine fever," said Sally Rockey, FFAR's executive director.

 

"US pork producers are already coping with uncertainty across the entire sector and an outbreak of African swine fever would devastate American farmers, who are already struggling."

 

FFAR's grant is being matched by funding from the National Pork Board, Cargill, Kemin, Purina Animal Nutrition and Kansas State University for a total investment of US$535,780.

 

- FFAR