In response to the threat of the contagious and deadly African Swine Fever, the Illinois Pork Producers is hosting a workshop. Executive Director Jennifer Tirey shares more of what the event will entail:
“On Tuesday, July 6th, we’re hosting in Galesburg at the Knox County Farm Bureau office, we’re partnering with them and hosting Secure Pork Supply Workshops. We’re inviting producers; we’re really asking them to schedule an appointment with us. So if they are interested in scheduling, they can call me at the office at (217) 529-3100. The reason we’re setting these workshops is so that our producers can be proactive in the event of a foreign animal disease hitting our border. Our producers can be more proactive by getting their on-farm biosecurity plans in place and making sure they can move their animals as quickly as possible in this event.”
African Swine Fever (or ASF) targets pigs that are both wild and farm-raised. The virus can be spread between pigs through bodily fluids and feeding them uncooked food waste, and it’s very fatal, dropping pig numbers in sub-Saharan Africa, China, Mongolia, Vietnam, and even in parts of the European Union. Fortunately it does not directly affect people, and has not entered the United States.
