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African Swine Fever Emergency Preparedness in Latin America and The Caribbean - TCP/RLA/3729

Year of publication 2022

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 14

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Project

Synopsis (short abstract) African swine fever ( is a viral disease with potentially serious implications for global trade and food safety The virus remains active for long periods of time in infected blood, faeces and tissues, and there is currently no vaccine, which makes it difficult to contain the disease and impossible to control it The disease has a major impact on countries, regions and subregions generating the following i job losses ;;( loss of export markets ;;( animal mortality ;;( resource scarcity among low income populations ;;( loss of animal protein sources and ( reduction of vulnerable families’ economic capacity In the Americas there are two modalities of pig production rural and industrial Rural production is carried out by smallholder farmers, who use low level technologies and keep small numbers of animals that transform grass, local crops and household waste into animal protein This is based mainly on domestic animal husbandry, with few animals on each farm, but spread over large geographical areas In these farms, the lack of veterinary care, health control, identification and traceability poses a major risk for the introduction of ASF In contrast, industrial pig production employs specialized technologies with large numbers of animals, veterinary assistance and a well organized slaughter and marketing chain An ASF outbreak would have a devastating impact on the livelihoods of rural inhabitants who raise pigs as a source of additional income Moreover, the costs of control measures, including the culling of infected stock and disinfection of infrastructure and fomites, will diminish resilience in the affected areas After an absence of more than 40 years from Latin America and the Caribbean, the fact that ASF has appeared in the region demonstrates the need for a project to provide tools and tasks to the Official Veterinary Services ( In collaboration with the World Organization for Animal Health ( FAO has created the Standing Group of Experts of the Global Framework for the Progressive Control of Transboundary Animal Diseases (GF TADs) for the Americas.

Language English

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    The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) including other partners have been working in countries affected or at risk of incursion by African swine fever (ASF). This document was generated as guidance in response to the emergence of ASF in China, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific. FAO has provided support for laboratory diagnosis of ASF following OIE recommendations, specifically using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) in detecting ASF virus. PCR is a highly sensitive and specific method for the molecular detecting ASF virus for a wide range of purposes, including confirmation of clinical cases and confirmation of freedom from infection before movement. The Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP, formerly the Australian Animal Health Laboratories) has developed a diagnostic algorithm based on OIE recommendations and in consultation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) regional animal health laboratory network. This document describes a validated real time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) protocol (the ‘King assay’), which targets the B646L gene, encoding the ASF virus structural protein p72. This assay has been produced in kit form by the ACDP and provided to various veterinary diagnostic laboratories in Southeast Asia by the FAO and OIE. This document also provides links to other reference documents.
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