'Tens of thousands' of pigs will be culled after African swine fever was detected in the Dominican Republic amid news that the UK government conducted an exercise to respond to any future outbreak.
African swine fever (ASF) was detected in 11 provinces in the Caribbean nation prompting the slaughter of ‘tens of thousands of pigs’ to control the virus, according to a Reuters report.
Two outbreaks in separate provinces involving more than 800 animals were officially confirmed last week, although one of the outbreaks is believed to have started on 1 July.
However, it is now reported that the authorities sent 389 samples from pig farms to US laboratories after registering the widespread death of animals in three provinces in the last month.
This resulted in the detection of outbreaks in 11 of the country's 32 provinces, the Dominican Republic's authorities said on Monday.
They said the only way to stop the disease was to cull the entire pig population in farms where it had been detected.
Officials there are still investigating the origin of the outbreak and have not said how many pigs will be slaughtered.
In the UK, the current risk of ASF virus entry is still considered to be medium despite the spread of ASF to the Dominican Republic, Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) said.
APHA said illegal importation of infected pork meat from affected parts of the Americas presented a 'concerning' route of entry of ASF virus into the UK.
“There are also ongoing concerns around infected pork products originating from affected countries entering the UK in passenger luggage and the subsequent waste being discarded in areas where wild boar or domestic pigs could access them."
It comes after contingency plans for ASF were tested as part of a UK-wide government exercise to respond to any potential future outbreak.
'Exercise Holly', which commenced on 22 and 23 July, simulated an outbreak of ASF as part of plans to contain and eliminate the disease in the event that it reached the UK.
In a joint statement, the UK’s four Chief Veterinary Officers said the risk of ASF arriving in the UK was 'ever present' and would have a 'devastating impact' on the pig sector.
"We regularly test our contingency plans in this way to ensure that we are ready to respond to potential future disease outbreaks," they said.
"Everyone can do their bit to help stop animal diseases spreading to this country through simple actions such as not bringing any pork products back to the UK and disposing of leftovers and food waste in secure bins that wildlife cannot access."
