The National Pork Board’s swine health committee met in January to discuss the latest research and findings in the area of swine health. As you might expect, a large portion of their meeting was devoted to one particularly devastating virus – African swine fever (ASF).

“Not to take away from other diseases, but if we get ASF in the U.S., we all lose,” says Steve Brier, chairman of the National Pork Board’s swine health committee. “The U.S. depends so heavily on pork exports and we’ll be cut off if we get ASF. Every producer wins if we can keep it out of the country.”

Patrick Webb, DVM, director of swine health programs for the National Pork Board, says the committee discussed where the U.S. was at in terms of preparedness and prevention and where the industry needed to go as a result of that discussion. They also expressed concerns about the trouble China’s having with ASF and the spread of the disease into other countries in Asia.