African swine fever is a contagious, viral disease that affects domestic pigs and wild boar, leading to high mortality. It does not affect people. First detected in the early 1900s in Africa, the disease has spread to countries in Asia and Europe.

There are numerous ways pigs can contract the disease. ASF can be spread through ticks, live or dead pigs and pork products, contaminated feed and by humans. In fact, humans can carry the virus on their shoes or clothing, which means traveling from a country that has African swine fever to one that does not could lead to new outbreaks without proper biosecurity practices.

The disease is highly contagious and spreads quickly through herds. It can survive days on contacted surfaces like vehicles or equipment, for weeks in raw meat and months in frozen meat products. It has an incubation period of 5-21 days, and infected animals do not always show clinical signs of the virus.

Know how can we prevent by attending the Webinar on Strengthening Measures in ASF Prevention and Control on December 10-11, 2020, 9AM to 5PM. Register at https://tinyurl.com/y27eyujf for free.