Pork Producers on F&MD Alert

March 16, 2001

The recent outbreak of foot and mouth disease (F&MD) in the United Kingdom and now continental Europe has heightened awareness of potential animal health risks facing pork producers. Although the United States has not had to face F&MD since 1929, the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) has been working diligently for many years to ensure that all preventive measures are taken and that in the event of an incursion of a foreign animal disease, an effective and rapid response would be mounted.

"Even though we have been fortunate in the U.S. and have not had to deal with a severe animal disease outbreak like the U.K. is experiencing, it doesn't mean that we can become complacent," said Jon Caspers, a producer from Swaledale, IA, and Swine Health Committee chair for the NPPC. "There are certain steps the industry needs to take to protect the U.S. swine herd from a similar outbreak."

NPPC efforts to build a strong safety net around the U.S. are focused in several key areas including national coordination of prevention and response capabilities, foreign animal disease research programs, research and diagnostic facilities, and producer and veterinarian education.

At the national level, NPPC, as a founding member of the National Animal Health Emergency Management Steering Committee, has worked with other commodity groups, state and federal animal health officials and veterinarians to ensure implementation of critical prevention and response capabilities. The steering committee through quarterly meetings and monthly conference calls has developed a new partnership model for emergency management coordination, assessed State and industry capabilities and plans, developed standards for state emergency management, and provided educational materials to producers and veterinarians.

Pork producers have been participating in foreign animal disease test exercises for classical swine fever and F&MD at the state and national level. The most recent F&MD exercise in November tested the response capabilities of the United States, Canada and Mexico. During the exercise, the NPPC Swine Health Committee offered input and producer views on various control and eradication strategies and on how best to communicate with producers during an outbreak.

NPPC stays in close contact with USDA officials with regard to import policies and disease outbreaks in other countries, and provides comments and technical expertise as needed. The council supports the availability of additional funds to provide increased passenger inspections from high risk ports of entry, enhanced training, increased disease surveillance, technical assistance to countries experiencing outbreaks and development of a high-tech emergency management operations center.

In addition, NPPC has provided funding with checkoff dollars for research projects on Foot-and-Mouth Disease at the USDA Agricultural Research Service's Plum Island Animal Disease Center. This research has focused on development of vaccines and improved diagnostic tools. In addition, NPPC recently participated in a review of the foreign animal disease research programs at Plum Island.

NPPC has been working with the Animal Agriculture Coalition to secure funding to properly maintain the Plum Island Animal Disease Center and Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory and to provide appropriate new facilities for the National Veterinary Services Laboratories, National Animal Disease Center and the Center for Veterinary Biologics. These facilities are critical to provide the research and diagnostic support needed to detect and respond to a foreign animal disease.

Also with checkoff funds, a variety of resources have been developed to help producers keep their herds safe. A recently released "foreign animal disease awareness" video looks at the potential threats of foreign animal diseases and provides information on what currently is being done by government and industry officials to diminish these threats. It also highlights biosecurity breeches on farms that could allow a foreign animal disease to enter a herd.

All checkoff funded information on biosecurity and foreign animal diseases can be found on the Internet on www.porkscience.org. This newly launched web site includes up-to-date scientific, research-based information for the pork industry. The Hot Topics link provides access to a variety of basic information on F&MD and the outbreak in Europe.