Last week I had the great privilege of participating in a workshop to discuss Depopulation, Disposal, and Disinfection (3D) activities needed to respond to outbreaks of African Swine Fever (ASF) in Ukraine and its border-neighbors including Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, Belarus and Poland. The workshop was held in Lviv, Ukraine. ASF is a devastating and frequently fatal disease of swine for which currently there is no effective treatment or vaccine. ASF continues to severely affect farmers, the swine industry, and the regional economies of many countries, including those of Eastern European countries. The workshop was a collaboration between the United States Department of Agriculture and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, the Government of Ukraine, and regional stakeholders including private sector agri-business partners.
The workshop agenda included:
- Animal Disease Outbreak Response Challenges from Country Perspectives;
- Global Perspectives: Economics, One Health, and Regional Considerations;
- Depopulation Considerations;
- Cleaning and Disinfection;
- Carcass Management Options and Strategies;
- Carcass Management Implementation; and
- Roundtable discussion followed by a summary and next steps.
It was great to work Dr. Daniel Beltran Alcrudo with FAO, Dr. Jimmy Tickel with the Institute for Infectious Animal Diseases and Ms. Lori Miller with USDA, APHIS. However, the greatest value came from the opportunity to hear directly from industry and government officials in the region working to control ASF in their countries.
Do you have successful practice that you have used to control, eradicate or prevent ASF? I love to hear from you!
