Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries have been alerted to the presence of African swine fever (ASF) in the Americas and the potential threat that it can pose to regional food security and to the livelihoods of farmers involved in the pig-rearing industry region-wide.
A Caribbean Week of Agriculture virtual forum has warned of what is believed to be a recent outbreak of the disease in the Dominican Republic and Haiti and has urged that coordinated efforts be undertaken to overcome the disease in the shortest possible time. Insofar as it persists, the disease could compromise one of the most widely consumed food sources across the region.
African swine fever is a highly infectious hemorrhagic disease that affects both domestic and wild pigs and is harmless to humans. The disease had not had any presence in the Western Hemisphere for decades and there is currently no vaccine to combat it.
A recent Caribbean News Now report says that cases of swine fever were confirmed in the Dominican Republic and in Haiti in July and September of this year, respectively. The two countries share the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea. The regional webinar where the disclosure was made was organized with the aim of raising awareness in the public and private sectors of the importance of investing in surveillance and prevention programmes as well as sharing experiences and information regarding how to recognise and prevent the spread of the disease, the Caribbean News Now report said.
“African swine fever has spread across several continents in recent years and has now reached the Americas, which could cause severe losses to affected countries in our region,” Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Safety Agency (CAHFSA) official Gavin Peters is quoted as saying. “What must we do now that we know that the disease is already present in our region? We must work together at the regional level and in each country to implement the necessary surveillance measures,” he added.
Manager of the Caribbean Community Agricultural and Agro-Industrial Development Programme, Shaun Baugh, has reportedly underscored the significance of this issue for food security in the region and has called on those involved in swine production to be vigilant in the event of an outbreak. Baugh said that farmers in the region been communicated with in order to cause them to become aware of the importance of joining forces and remaining vigilant.
