Due to the losses suffered by pig producers in Wakiso district caused by an outbreak of African Swine Fever, it is important to safe guard those not yet affected.
For your information, Wakiso district is one of the largest pig producing districts in Uganda with reasonable numbers of medium and large scale pig farms. The district neighbors Mukono, Mpigi and Luwero districts which have also attracted large investments in pig production recently. Therefore outbreak of African Swine Fever, (a disease that neither have a vaccine nor treatment) in Wakiso district pose a huge risk to the pig sector in Uganda.
African swine fever (ASF) is a highly contagious and fatal viral disease of domestic pigs. It was first described in Kenya, East Africa, in 1921 by foreign researchers though the disease was of economic importance before 1910. The disease was soon afterwards described in South Africa and Angola as a disease that killed settler’s pigs. The first outbreak of African Swine Fever in Europe happened in 1957 and again 1959. The serious effect of the disease was fully appreciated and immediate actions were taken. Currently, the disease has been completely eradicated in some European countries and others have never experienced outbreaks in domestic pigs since 1959.
In August 2018, the world’s largest pig producer China reported the first African swine fever outbreak in Liaoning province, which was also the first reported case in Eastern Asia. The disease spread to every province in China and it is reported China culled over 26% of its total pig population to limit transmission.
In Uganda, African Swine Fever is endemic and outbreaks are cyclical. This is largely due to government’s poor disease reporting systems, slow issuing of quarantines, lack of quarantine implementation strategies and absence of incentives to enable culling of infected pigs without their meat going to the market. There are a number of undocumented outbreaks of African Swine Fever in Uganda and the current one being in Wakiso district.
The first appearance of African Swine Fever in an area or farm is usually characterized by death of a large number of pigs after a short illness. Pigs become depressed, suddenly stop eating, huddle together and sometimes may die before other clinical signs develop. The pig spend most of its time lying down, difficult breathing and flushing of the skin, particularly over the abdomen and extremities in white-skinned pigs, commonly develop in pigs that survive for more than a day. Pigs of all ages are affected.
Outbreak of African Swine Fever in a farm is usually associated with one or all of the following events:
• Close contact between domestic and wild pigs
• introduction of infected pigs into a farm, for example through purchase
• introduction of infected pig meat into the farm ;
• feeding of swill that contains raw or insufficiently cooked infected pork and pig remains or access to such remains through scavenging;
• movement of vehicles and people between farms during an outbreak.
• Movement of stray dogs, scavengers and other animals between farms during an outbreak
• Using equipment from infected farms
African Swine Fever has the ability to exist in a protein environment for several years.
HOW CAN WE REDUCE THE IMPACT OR EVEN ERADICATE ASF FROM UGANDA?
Nobody knows when the vaccine or treatment for African Swine Fever will be discovered and if discovered, whether we will be able to access it easily and on time. You know how difficult it is to access even the simplest vaccines in the country. Therefore, for the pig and pork businesses to survive in this difficult environment of repeated African Swine Fever outbreaks there is need for taking actions that can be driven by farmers with less or no government assistance. There is no surety of a political will to support the pig industry overcome this tragedy by our government. Therefore, it is time to count on ourselves. There are about four strategies we need to think about and act as soon as possible as individual or group of farmers. I suggest them in order of their importance:
1. Bio-security – a priority not an option
Bio-security of pigs at farm level is the set of practical measures taken to prevent entrance of infection into a pig farm and control the spread of infection within that farm. This requires individual effort and commitment. Bio-security can be looked at in two ways; Guarding the farm from entry of disease causing organisms and managing infection on farm to prevent transmission to other pigs in the farm.
Effective bio-security may not come for free; you will spend some money. For example, you need a perimeter fence around the farm to prevent entry of unauthorized personnel, animals, birds etc. You need to buy disinfectants, construct bathrooms for visitors to take a shower before accessing the pigs, buying farm attire for both workers and authorized visitors etc. On farm (For large farmers); you will need to provide different houses for different categories of pigs e.g. pregnant sows, farrowing sows, growers etc. All these will cost you some money. Therefore, a written bio-security plan is important and with it farm workers can easily implement bio-security measures with support of suggested structures. The size of the farm doesn’t matter most especially if it is not the owner managing the pigs on daily basis. What to think about when drafting your bio-security plan;
• Land area used for pig production: Bio-security starts from selecting the site for construction of your pig farm. Who is your neighbor? Are you near a forest harboring wild pigs? Are you near an abattoir, a pork joint or pork selling restaurant? A pig farm must be isolated from people and possibly set in a location free from other pig producers. If your neighborhood is very risky, your bio-security program will be very expensive.
• Management Procedures; this is more about your strategies to avoid infections from crossing from one pig unit to another most especially in large farms. In such farms, it is necessary to provide a particular manager for particular pig categories. For example, farrowing unit manager, Grower unit manager, Dry sow unit manager etc. These must go through a routine bio-security check before crossing to other units. This means, also equipment etc for a particular unit doesn’t cross to others. In small and medium productions, we must refrain from borrowing farm equipment, drugs, syringe and needles etc. Sick pigs must be isolated and newly introduced pigs quarantined for at-least two weeks before mixing with others.
• Transportation of pigs; Due to the absence of professional pig transporters in the country, same trucks used for transporting breeding pigs are also used for transporting slaughter pigs from different farms. Even during an outbreak, this doesn’t change. Also if unsupervised, transporters park near high risk places for example pork joints to have meals. It is your responsibility as a farmer to source and interview the transporter of your breeding pigs, make sure the truck is disinfected and the route of movement is followed with no unnecessary stopovers until final destination is reached. When stopped at any police check point, please request the officers not to get in contact with pigs. Also try every effort possible to move pigs together with necessary documents to avoid delaying at check points.
• Buildings and structures: Every pig unit must have its own set procedures before access is allowed. Do not leave open walls, cover with a net to prevent entry of birds and other small animals. When visitors access the farm, do not allow them touch pig house walls or pigs. The farm must be enclosed into a fence with one or more managed entries.
• Consumable supplies and equipment; It is your responsibility to ensure feeds are sourced from a supplier mindful of your farm health. The supplier must explain to you what they are doing to ensure selling uncontaminated feeds to pig producers. Feeding restaurant remains may save you money today but cost you your whole investment later. Pork from outside sources should not enter the farm. People attending to pigs should avoid visiting abattoirs and pork joints.
• Owners, workers, veterinarians, consultants & visitors; the effectiveness of every bio-security plan depends on the commitment of the owner. Owners must not dodge bio-security procedures; they must obey every detail to prove importance to farm workers. You should also talk about the importance of bio-security with your workers always. In large productions, it is important that workers are well trained farm residents. It is risky to have a farm worker who is also working at another farm. It is also risky to have a worker whose movements are unsupervised. You must be careful about veterinarians and consultants; they must go through a similar bio security process before accessing the pigs. Buy your own farm drugs and equipment, do not allow veterinarians to enter farm with their drugs and equipment. These must advise you on what drugs to avail before their next visit. Where possible, please avoid visitors. Make every effort possible to prevent people from accessing your pig farm and if allowed, strict bio-security procedures must be followed.
2. Uniting for action
The second strategy requires different value chain actors to understand the importance of African Swine Fever to their businesses and come together for action. When organized into relevant groups, Farmer groups, Pig traders groups, input traders groups etc. It is easy to initiate and contribute to a fund to be used during an outbreak to compensate affected members. This limit infected meat from reaching the market and therefore controlling transmission of the virus to new locations/farms. Through the same groups, animal health trainings can be routinely carried out to prevent outbreaks. Also, it enables effective control of trade of infected pigs as well as fighting other risks faced by different value chain actors.
3. Insurance
In 2016, the government of Uganda introduced the Uganda Insurance Agriculture Scheme (UAIS) as an insurance subsidy program for both small and large scale farmers and farmers in high risk areas to ensure every farmer in Uganda can be protected from the effects of losses of their crops/livestock on their overall income that season.
The UAIS is managed by the Agriculture Insurance Consortium (AIC) which is housed under the Uganda Insurers Association (UIA). AIC is currently composed of the following 10 companies, APA Insurance, Goldstar insurance, Lion Assurance, Phoenix insurance, Jubilee insurance, UAP insurance, CIC General, First Insurance Company, NIC and Pax insurance.
When I checked with Jubilee Insurance, I was told pigs from 2 months to 5 years of age can be insured.
The scheme covers:
• Accidents (Lightening/internal and external injuries, windstorms, snake bites and flooding)
• Illness and diseases of terminal nature
• Epidemics except those arising from Rift Valley Fever or Foot and Mouth, after declaration by government
• Emergency slaughter on advice of a qualified veterinary surgeon.
The cover can be extended to cover theft, transit risks abd farrowing risks.
4. Community slaughter and Feasts
In Uganda mostly rural areas, burying carcasses of pigs to prevent continued spread of disease is a waste of time. Many Ugandans can hardly afford enough meat so will unbury this free meat and feast on it. Sometimes, even animals whose death caused by dangerous zonootic diseases are not spared if not burnt to ashes!
Therefore where there is willingness by a farmer to prevent infected meat from reaching the market, the best strategy is to invite the community, slaughter, cook and eat all the meat. After, burry deeply all remains take a shower and wash clothes with a detergent. It is not good for a pig farmer to involve in such feasts.
It is important to note that selling a single infected pig can lead to African Swine Fever outbreaks in the whole country and thereafter death of a huge number of pigs. Therefore for those concerned about fellow farmers please avoid selling infected pigs. I also urge traders to stop buying and selling infected pig meat.
Also, African Swine Fever virus only affect pigs, therefore infected meat has no harmful effects on human beings or other animal species. The control of consumption of infected meat is aimed at preventing disease outbreaks in new locations.
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Post time: Sep-11-2021