WASHINGTON — On Sept. 20, the chief veterinary officer in Haiti reported a positive case of African swine fever to the World Organisation for Animal Health. The sample was collected from a pig in a province bordering the Dominican Republic and was tested by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories through a cooperative testing program.
African swine fever is not a threat to human health, cannot be transmitted from pigs to humans and is not a food safety issue. While unfortunate, this detection is not unexpected due to the recent cases in the Dominican Republic.
USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is committed to assisting both Haiti and the Dominican Republic in dealing with the disease and continues to consult with animal health officials in both countries to support response and mitigation measures.
The service has numerous interlocking safeguards in place to prevent African swine fever from entering the United States. Pork and pork products from the Haiti and the Dominican Republic are prohibited entry to the United States as a result of existing classical swine fever restrictions.
After it was detected in the Dominican Republic, APHIS increased surveillance and safeguards in U.S. territories. These safeguards will also help prevent the spread of the disease to the United States from Haiti. The service continues to work with partners including the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. swine industry to prevent the disease from entering the United States.
Customs and Border Protection is increasing inspections of flights from Hispaniola to ensure travelers do not bring prohibited products to the United States. It will also ensure that garbage from these airplanes is properly disposed of to prevent transmission.
APHIS announced its intent Aug. 26 to establish a Foreign Animal Disease protection zone in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. African swine fever has not been detected in Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands.
As part of the actions taken to create the protection zone, on Sept. 17, APHIS issued a Federal Order suspending the interstate movement of all live swine, swine germplasm, swine products and swine byproducts from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to the mainland United States until APHIS can establish sufficient mitigations to authorize such movement.
More information about USDA’s efforts can be found at aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/swine-disease-information/african-swine-fever/seminar.
