By Tom Polansek
CHICAGO, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Bettie the beagle, a detector
dog for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, picked up the scent
of pork on a woman arriving from China at Chicago's O'Hare
International Airport.
Soon the dog's handler discovered and confiscated a ham
sandwich in the purse of a passenger who had flown on a China
Eastern Airlines flight from Shanghai.
The danger? That the food might be contaminated with African
swine fever and spread the disease to the United States. China
has lost millions of pigs in outbreaks of the disease, pushing
its pork prices to record highs, forcing purchases of costly
imports and roiling global meat markets. "It's very likely it may come here if we aren't more
vigilant," said Jessica Anderson, the handler for the
pork-sniffing dog and an agricultural specialist for the border
protection agency.
Bettie is among an expanded team of specially trained
beagles at U.S. airports, part of a larger effort to protect the
nation's $23 billion pork industry from a disease that has
decimated China's hog herd, the world's largest. Governments
worldwide are scrambling to shore up their defenses as the
disease spills over China's borders, according to Reuters
reporting from nine countries. The efforts underscore the grave
threat to global agriculture. African swine fever has spread to Southeast Asia and eastern
Europe, with cases found in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Korea,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Poland, Belgium and Bulgaria. Around
the globe, those countries and others that have so far
sidestepped the epidemic are cracking down on travelers,
increasing cargo screenings and banning meat imports.
(For an interactive graphic on China's swine-fever crisis,
see: https://tmsnrt.rs/2tYFetj )
Pork-producing countries stand to lose billions of dollars
if the disease infects their industries because outbreaks
devastate farms and shut export markets. African swine fever
does not threaten humans but there's no vaccine or cure for
infected pigs.
If the disease enters the United States, the top
pork-exporting nation with 77.3 million hogs, the government
would struggle to protect the industry, participants in a
four-day drill in September told Reuters.
"If this gets in, it will destroy our industry as we know
it," said Dave Pyburn, the National Pork Board's senior vice
president of science and technology.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) simulated an
outbreak in Mississippi that spread to the nation's top
pig-producing states, including North Carolina, Iowa and
Minnesota. Veterinarians, farmers and government officials
gathered at command centers where they tested their capacity to
swiftly detect, control and clean up after an outbreak.
The experience showed the U.S. needs to increase its
capacity to quickly test pigs for the disease and to dispose of
the animals without spreading it, said Pyburn, who participated
in the drill.
In China, the top global pork consumer, the disease has been
devastating. The exact number of hog deaths is not known.
Rabobank estimated the country lost up to 55% of its pig herd
last year. But the Chinese government has reported smaller
losses in the country's $1 trillion hog sector since the first
case in August 2018. RESPONSE
The U.S. government is fielding dogs at airports and
seaports, conducting outbreak-response drills and adding
capacity to test pigs. France and Germany are killing hundreds
of thousands of wild boar that might carry the disease. France
also erected 132 kilometers (82 miles) of fencing to keep out
wild boar and is planning stricter sanitary rules for pig
farming, including requirements to disinfect trucks that
transport swine.
Thailand culled pigs in a province close to Myanmar, where
the disease has been found. South Korea ordered soldiers on its
border with North Korea to capture wild boar, while Vietnam used
troops to ensure infected pigs were culled. Australia expelled travelers from Vietnam for smuggling pork
and banned imports of pork products. Australia also deployed
advisors to Pacific islands in an attempt to protect its closest
neighbors from African swine fever. If such efforts fail, it
could cost the country more than 2 billion Australian dollars
($1.4 billion) over five years, according to Australian Pork
Limited, an industry group. "It is certainly the biggest threat to commercial raising
that we have ever seen, and arguably the biggest threat to any
commercial livestock species we've seen," said Mark Schipp,
Australia's chief veterinary officer.
U.S. officials plan to suspend domestic shipments of pigs
among farms and to slaughterhouses if African swine fever is
detected. The USDA and states could issue orders halting the
movement of livestock in certain areas as a way to contain the
disease.
The USDA said in a statement to Reuters that the September
drill highlighted shortcomings in its guidance to states
detailing when and how to limit the movement of pigs. The
government is also increasing the number of laboratories it uses
to test for African swine fever.
"We have identified some gaps," said Amanda Luitjens, who
took part in the drill and is animal welfare auditor for
Minnesota-based pork producer Christensen Farms. "The thought of
it making it to the United States is scary."
BANS ON GARBAGE FEEDING
Travelers transporting meat represent the biggest risk for
African swine fever to spread to the United States because the
disease can live for weeks in pork products, Pyburn said.
Contaminated food can be fed to feral pigs or livestock in a
practice known as garbage feeding, which the USDA says has
caused outbreaks of swine diseases around the world. U.S.
farmers are supposed to obtain a license to feed pigs with food
waste that contains meat and cook it to kill disease organisms.
African swine fever can also spread from pig to pig, from
bites by infectious ticks and through objects such as trucks,
clothing and shoes that have come into contact with the virus.
China banned the transportation of live pigs from infected
provinces and neighboring regions in an unsuccessful bid to
contain its outbreaks. It also culled pigs and outlawed the use
of kitchen waste for swine feed.
The disease has been detected in food products seized at
airports in South Korea, Japan, Australia, the Philippines and
northern Ireland.
African swine fever is thought to have arrived in the
Philippines through contaminated pork smuggled from China. The
Philippines is now conducting mandatory checks on carry-on
luggage of passengers from countries with outbreaks.
The government of the province of Cebu in central
Philippines banned imported products and those from the main
Philippine island of Luzon to avoid swine fever. More than
60,000 pigs have died or been culled in Luzon because of the
disease. The Philippines Department of Agriculture also banned
garbage feeding that included leftover food from airports,
airlines and seaports.
In the United States, low inspection rates at ports of entry
increase the likelihood for illegal pork to enter the country
undetected, the USDA said in a report assessing the risk from
African swine fever. The agency works with Customs and Border
Protection to alert all U.S. ports each time a new country is
confirmed to have the disease, requesting increased scrutiny on
travelers and shipments.
But Customs and Border Protection estimates it needs 3,148
people to specialize in agricultural inspections at entry points
like airports and only has about 2,500.
The U.S. Senate last year authorized the annual hiring of
240 agricultural specialists a year until the workforce shortage
is filled, and the training and assignment of 20 new canine
teams a year. The government approved 60 new beagle teams to
work at airports and seaports last year, for a total of 179
teams, according to USDA.
Those teams face a daunting challenge, said Senator Gary
Peters, a Michigan Democrat who introduced the legislation with
other lawmakers.
"Every day, millions of passengers and tens of thousands of
shipping containers carrying food products cross our nation's
borders," he said, "any one of which could do significant damage
to America's food supply and agricultural industries."
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