African Swine Fever in Haiti and DR

[kjbarth]

Meathead Huskee Jerod Broussard This may be more of a question for Meathead and/or his contacts in the US pork industry or the USDA. FYI otherwise.

There is a bit in the news about African Swine Fever in Haiti and DR.

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/newsroom/stakeholder-info/sa_by_date/sa-2021/sa-09/asf-haiti

Given the recent influx of Haitian immigrants on our southern border, is there or should there be more concern that some of these immigrants could be carrying contaminated pork, could contaminate pigs in Central America and Mexico or other areas of the Caribbean and ultimately contaminate pigs in the US? The article states that safeguards are in place. Our recent history suggests we're not so good at preventing human infection, can we be better at preventing it in pigs in our food supply? Pork prices bear some watching.

[Meathead]

The article you linked to says "ASF is not a threat to human health, cannot be transmitted from pigs to humans and it is not a food safety issue." So there seems to be little to worry about. And since meat needs to be refrigerated or cooked to be edible, it is unlikely Haitians at the Texas border are carrying refrigerators, or live animals, so methinks there is nothing to worry about.

[kjbarth]

Without belaboring this, the point I was trying to make and maybe didn’t do so well, is this. The risk, I think, is economic. ASF went through Europe in the mid 2010’s. By 2018, it was in China and the Far East. China has the worlds largest swine stocks (55% of world stock in China) and is the world’s largest consumer of pork products. Pigs infected with ASF must be destroyed. If my math is correct, China had to destroy half their pig stocks as they were infected with ASF. Now, ASF has reached the Americas. As pitmasters, BBQ’rs, and grillers, we use a lot of pork products. If our pork supply is impacted, pork prices will rise.

[Meathead]

I responded to your post as worded. Inelegantly or not. That's what I had to work with. I agree, ASF is indeed a serious problem. But it is not likely to come here with Haitian immigrants.