The World Organisation for Animal Health currently lists many countries, especially in Europe, Asia and Africa, being affected by the African swine fever epidemic. Lately, ASF appeared in the Dominican Republic, the first case in the Americas in decades, which put Latin American continental countries on high alert.
The ASF virus affects only suidae, pigs and wild boars, with a mortality rate of up to 100%. The disease and its consequences are the cause of serious socio-economic problems in livestock breeding.
Multiple ways the disease can be transmitted to pigs:
Contact – Ingestion – Insect bite
According to different sources, the routes of transmission are as follows:
- by contact to contaminated live or dead pigs
- by contact to contaminated vehicles, shoes, clothes and equipment
- by ingestion of contaminated water or food
- by air over short distances or
- by some insect bites.
The virus is relatively resistant in the environment and therefore it can spread very quickly. Some strains can remain infectious across a wide range of pH, from pH4 to pH13. Studies also show still virulent activity in strains stored for 5 and 7 years at 5°C, 18 months at room temperature and between 10 and 30 days at 37°C. The virus can also survive in protective media such as soil or animal faeces for 5 to 6 months and up to 30 months in chilled meat.
The best possibly way to secure and protect your animals and your farm is to
- PAY ATTENTION! ->i.e. monitor the animals, the access to the farm, condition of building and fences , biosecurity procedures, cleaning and disinfection procedures and products!
- & TAKE ACTION! -> i.e. limit the access to the farm, train your staff, improve fences, biosecurity = cleaning, disinfection and protection procedures, rodent and pest control, chose the right and tested products!
STOP IT BEFORE IT STOPS YOU!
Kersia is committed to supporting pig farms through offering complete and comprehensive and tested biosecurity products and solutions, through our ‘‘Cleaning, Disinfection and Protection Programs”.
CLEANING:
Effective cleaning of surfaces and equipment ensures the best possible condition for disinfection.
Use our proven alkaline cleaners ULTRAFOAM, ECOFOAM ADVANCED or AGACREAM for the effective removal of organic load. Depending on the hardness of the water, we recommend regular use with an acidic cleaner such as FOAM ACID or DUAL ACID to remove limescale.
DISINFECTION:
Successful disinfection is the elimination of micro-organisms through the selection of a proven disinfectant, applied at the correct dilution rate with adequate contact time.
Our disinfectants VIREX, FUMAGRI EFFISAFE, HYPRED FORCE 7, VIROSHIELD, VIROBACTER were all successfully tested against African Swine Fever Virus.
|
Test method EN14675 |
Concentration |
Degrees |
Contact time |
FBS (soiling) |
Where / Virus |
|
VIREX |
1% |
4°C |
5 min. |
BSA 3 g/L |
Wageningen |
|
FUMAGRI EFFISAFE |
1% |
10°C |
1 min. |
BSA 3 g/L |
|
|
HYPRED FORCE 7 |
1% |
10°C |
30 min. |
BSA 3 g/L |
|
|
HYPRED FORCE 7** |
1% |
10°C |
30 min. |
BSA 3 g/L |
Instituto |
|
VIROSHIELD** |
1% |
10°C |
30 min. |
BSA 3 g/L |
|
|
VIROBACTER*** |
1% |
10°C |
30 min. |
BSA 3 g/L |
|
|
* the Netherlands ‘86 ASFV isolated on porcine ** using the surrogated Vaccinia Poxvirus (ATCC-VR-1508) *** using the surrogated Vaccinia virus strain modified Vaccinia Ankara |
|||||
PROTECTION:
Comprehensive Biosecurity measures are required to prevent micro-organisms from re-entering and contaminating clean buildings and equipment.
Disinfecting boots when entering and leaving the sheds together with good hand hygiene procedures are essential to prevent the entrance pathogens through your personnel or visitors.
Providing options to clean and disinfect boots and hands is the key to success. Make it easy to access hand washing appliances and offer good quality, pH-neutral and dermatologically tested wash lotion such as SOFTY TOUCH for the personnel or visitors entering your shed. Foot baths with VIREX or FUMAGRI EFFISAFE and hand disinfection dispensers containing disinfectants such as DISINFECTANT GEL, DISINFECTION LOTION or ORLIN SUPRADES HD are essential prevention measures and should be placed at any entrance or exit and at any cross points.
In order to avoid spreading, it is vital to clean transport vehicles regularly, i.e. after each transport, with AGRIMAT or KLEENFLEET and to disinfect them with our proven disinfectants (see list of products specifically tested against ASF above). Great attention should be paid to the wheels of all vehicles, whether trucks, vans, feed suppliers, employees, or visitor cars – they all should be cleaned and afterwards disinfected with VIREX every time they enter or leave the site.
Next to hygiene measures, increased vigilance, improvement of building maintenance, pest and rodent control, monitoring of entrants and animal health, and training of your employees are essential measures to prevent the entrance of African Swine Fever to your farm.
There is no vaccine against ASF – cure is impossible!
For more information, please refer to the PDF document “Kersia – African Swine Fever Solutions”
If you have any questions, please contact your local expert or use the contact form on our website.
Disinfectants are regulatory biocides. They have guarantees of efficiency and protection of human, animals and the environment.
Use biocides safely. Before use read the label and product information. Dangerous. Comply with precautions for use.