NPPC Calls Hog Cholera Plan "Seriously Flawed"

USDA's proposed plan to contain potential imports from the European Union that could result in an outbreak of hog cholera is "seriously flawed" and could increase chances the virus could reappear in the United States, says National Pork Producers Council President John McNutt.

McNutt submitted formal comments earlier this week on USDA's "regionalization plan" for the EU. An outbreak of classical swine fever, or hog cholera, in Germany, reported Aug. 17, provides dramatic evidence that the rule's proposal to grant "free" status to almost all of Germany is a mistake, says McNutt.

The virus "could easily have been spread to other farms with the lack of movement controls within Germany and to the entire EU since this region is considered by the EU to be free" of hog cholera, says McNutt. "Under the (USDA) proposed rule, products, semen or live breeding animals could have been exported to the United States from the area in which the outbreak occurred."

Of the 611 outbreaks of hog cholera in the EU in 1997, he adds, 103 were outside any zones that were under restriction. "It is significant that one swine semen collection center approved for export was included in the 103 outbreaks outsize the zones as well as a breeding operation engaged in export sales, McNutt says.

Hog cholera was eliminated from the United States in 1978 at a cost of $140 million, $540 million in current dollars, says NPPC. NPPC has supported regionalization for states in Mexico, but the proposal for the EU is not based on sound science and could jeopardize the health of the U.S. swine herd, the council says.