OFW Law’s John Dillard is a frequent contributor to Farm Journal, the premiere U.S. farm magazine. His latest contribution covers African Swine Fever.
African swine fever (ASF) is a nasty bug and it’s getting closer to the U.S. The highly contagious viral infection doesn’t infect humans, but it is 100% fatal to hogs.
Countries where the virus has struck have seen their pork industry massively devastated. It is estimated Chinese farmers lost up to half of their hog outputs to the virus in 2018 and 2019. A significant part of the uptick in Chinese grain and soybean meal demand can be attributed to the country’s efforts to rebuild their herds using modern production systems.
In September, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced ASF has been found in the Dominican Republic. Given its shared border, it’s assumed ASF has also made its way to Haiti.
You can access the rest of the article at Farm Journal.
