Swine Disease Global Surveillance Report: African Swine Fever Diagnosed on a New Continent

On July 28, 2021, the Ministry of Agriculture of the Dominican Republic confirmed the presence of African swine fever (ASF) after learning the results of tests on 389 samples collected from pigs raised on farms and in backyards sent to the USDA - Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (Plum Island) through an existing cooperative surveillance program.

The arrival of ASF in the Dominican Republic means the disease has leapt into the Americas for the first time in 40 years. Back then, the Dominican Republic dealt with the disease from 1978 to 1980, with 374 outbreaks reported throughout that period, representing an impact of 192,473 culled pigs.