ASF Research Moves Forward in Vietnam in Spite of COVID-19

The Swine Health Information Center reports, in spite of disruptions caused by COVID-19, African Swine Fever research continues to move forward in Vietnam. To gain a better understanding of African Swine Fever in an effort to develop prevention and control strategies before an outbreak in North America, the Swine Health Information Center has been coordinating a multi-phase program on the ground in Vietnam where the infection can be studied in real time.

 

SHIC Executive Director Dr. Paul Sundberg says it includes a variety of projects.

 

 

We're looking at for example routes of introduction onto the farms. We're looking at epidemiological surveys to identify routes of introduction onto farms. As well another route possibly could be infected boar studs so we're looking at the risk of infected boar studs.

 

We're looking at risks from mice and rats to see if they carry ASF on their feet or on their fur and can transmit that. We're looking at the use of oral fluids. That's an extremely important project in Vietnam because right now our only live sample that we can take from pigs for surveillance is whole blood and that's a difficult sample to take. We want to get to the spot where we have enough data that would support an analysis of the use of oral fluids for ASF surveillance and monitoring.

 

There's a variety of different other ones. All of these projects are underway.There have been some hiccups because of the COVID-19 epidemic but they've by and large been overcome. We've had to have some flexibility, had to go down a different route. When Plan A didn't work, we went to Plan B. All of these projects are now ongoing in Vietnam, the oral fluids ones included and we’re looking forward to getting preliminary results from many of them and final results from a few in the very near future.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.