Biosecurity indemnification and attitudes of United States swine producers towards the prevention of an african swine fever outbreak

Animal disease outbreaks, such as the recent outbreak of African Swine Fever in 2018, are a major concern for stakeholders across the food supply chain due to their potential to disrupt global food security, cause economic losses, and threaten animal welfare. As a result of their transboundary nature, discussions have shifted to preventive measures aimed at protecting livestock while ensuring food security and safety. Emergency assistance has been a critical response option during pandemics. However, this may not be sustainable in the long run because the expectation of government bailout may encourage risk taking behaviours. Our hypothesis is that an indemnity policy that is conditioned on showing biosecurity practices would increase compliance and reduce government expenditure during disease outbreaks. We developed and launched a survey from March to July 2022 targeted at swine producers across the US. From the survey, we examined livestock farmers' attitudes and intentions regarding biosecurity investment and assessed their attitudes towards the purchase of livestock insurance and reporting suspected infected livestock on their farm. We used a partial proportion odds model analysis to examine the model. Our analysis revealed that intention to call a veterinarian, trust in government agencies and risk perception of farmers were instrumental in the willingness to self-invest in biosecurity, purchase livestock insurance, and promptly report infected livestock on their farms. This provides evidence that biosecurity compliance would increase if indemnification was tied to a demonstration of effort to adopt biosecurity practices. We also show that individuals who have been in the industry for a longer period may become complacent and less likely to report outbreaks. Farmers with a higher share of income from their production operations bear a greater risk from their operational income and are more willing to report any suspected infections on their farms. The data suggest that motivating the willingness of farmers to invest in biosecurity while overcoming cost concerns is achievable.

Investigation of African swine fever outbreaks in pigs outside the controlled areas of South Africa, 2012-2017

South Africa historically experienced sporadic African swine fever (ASF) outbreaks in domestic pigs in the northern parts of the country. This was subsequently indicated to be because of spillover from the sylvatic cycle of ASF between warthog and tampans (soft ticks) in the area. South Africa declared this area an ASF-controlled area in 1935, and the area is still controlled in terms of the Animal Diseases Act, 1984 (Act 35 of 1984). Two main epidemics of ASF in domestic pigs were identified outside of the South African ASF-controlled area. The first occurred in 2012 with outbreaks in Gauteng and Mpumalanga provinces, and the second occurred in 2016-2017 with outbreaks in the North West, Free State and Northern Cape provinces. These were the first ASF epidemics in South Africa associated with transmission of the disease via a domestic cycle. This study found that the spread of ASF in these epidemics was mainly via auctions, swill feeding and scavenging. These three aspects need to be addressed in terms of awareness and education on the disease including implementation of biosecurity measures in order to prevent future ASF outbreaks in South Africa. Specific biosecurity measures should be implemented in the semi-commercial sector to prevent ASF-infected pigs and pig products from being moved to naïve pigs and therefore spreading the disease.

Motion-based video monitoring for early detection of livestock diseases: The case of African swine fever

Early detection of infectious diseases can substantially reduce the health and economic impacts on livestock production. Here we describe a system for monitoring animal activity based on video and data processing techniques, in order to detect slowdown and weakening due to infection with African swine fever (ASF), one of the most significant threats to the pig industry. The system classifies and quantifies motion-based animal behaviour and daily activity in video sequences, allowing automated and non-intrusive surveillance in real-time. The aim of this system is to evaluate significant changes in animals’ motion after being experimentally infected with ASF virus. Indeed, pig mobility declined progressively and fell significantly below pre-infection levels starting at four days after infection at a confidence level of 95%. Furthermore, daily motion decreased in infected animals by approximately 10% before the detection of the disease by clinical signs. These results show the promise of video processing techniques for real-time early detection of livestock infectious diseases.