The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is hosting its second African Swine Fever (ASF) Action Week from October 10-14, 2022, the governing body said in a press release. USDA-APHIS is encouraging US swine producers, small farms and pig owners to join us and learn about ASF and what they can do to help protect the US swine herd.

ASF has never been detected in the US, but since the 2021 detection in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, the closest to the US in decades, USDA has partnered with industry and states to enhance already strong safeguards to protect US swine from this costly disease.

“African swine fever is not a threat to human health nor is it a food safety concern,” said Dr. Jack Shere, APHIS associate administrator and leader of the Agency’s ASF prevention efforts. ”But, if introduced here, ASF will kill millions of pigs Americans rely on for food and trade. And, were it to become endemic, it would take us more than 10 years and about $80 billion to eradicate the disease,” added Shere.

Join USDA-APHIS all week on Twitter, Facebook and the website to learn more about what APHIS is doing, and what you can do, to Protect our Pigs. Tune in for two special live events:

• Tuesday, October 11: U.S. Mitigation, Live Twitter Q&A
  Two ASF subject matter experts will answer your questions on Twitter from 2 to 3 p.m. ET.
• Thursday, October 13: The State of African swine fever, live webinar with Jack Shere
  Dr. Shere, will also host a live webinar on the latest APHIS and industry prevention actions, the US approach to disease mitigation, and address questions collected from US swine producers, small farmers, and pig owners from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. ET. To join, register in advance at https://www.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_BAnQ5QU4TRSCwqya3i3CNg.

Through the Protect Our Pigs campaign, USDA is raising awareness of ASF to help producers and veterinarians quickly find and share actionable information to defend their herds and livelihoods. Free resources, such as custom videos, downloadable materials, and interactive training guides are available at the Protect Our Pigs website at: Uhttps://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/resources/pests-diseases/asf/.