SHIC Applauds Ramped-Up USDA APHIS ASF Outreach

Feb 23, 2023

Following detection of African swine fever in the Caribbean in 2021, USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service further increased efforts to protect US swine from the transboundary disease. Two outreach campaigns designed to increase awareness were launched. The Swine Health Information Center appreciates their work to target international travelers as well as pork producers, veterinarians, and pig owners. The following overview of activities was provided by APHIS.

In 2022, as part of their international traveler campaign, APHIS placed signs in 10 international airports (Los Angeles (LAX), New York (JFK), Chicago O'Hare, Atlanta, Miami, San Francisco, Newark, Houston, San Juan (Puerto Rico), and Des Moines). Signs encouraged travelers not to bring prohibited pork products into the US. In an announcement, USDA said, "APHIS identified these airports through a pathway risk analysis that showed they present the highest risk of passengers transporting potentially infected, prohibited products."

In addition to signage, the campaign uses digital and social media advertising focused on the top 25 international airports by travel volume. People searching for terms associated with international travel were also targeted by the campaign. Analysis shows APHIS' campaign has produced over 63.5 million digital impressions and resulted in nearly 150,000 visits to their web page. At the time of this report, airport signs had reached over 150 million people based on airport volume.

The second campaign, APHIS' Protect Our Pigs awareness campaign, was designed to support commercial pork producers, veterinarians, and pig owners, by providing information and resources to help safeguard the US pork industry. APHIS recognizes these stakeholders as the first line of defense against ASF domestically.

The campaign included debut of aphis.usda.gov/ProtectOurPigs, a website to house key ASF materials. Content includes downloadable fact sheets and posters, instructional videos, shareable social media graphics, and an interactive biosecurity guide. "By working together and becoming educated, APHIS, producers, veterinarians, and owners will be ready to respond immediately should an ASF outbreak be detected," APHIS wrote.

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Video: Season 7, Episode 1: Managing Risk and Seeing Opportunities in U.S. Pork Production

Today’s episode features three guests discussing the similarities and differences between pork production in the United States and Brazil, along with strategies for managing risk in today’s industry while recognizing and acting on opportunities. First, Dr. Anne Caroline de Lara, executive manager of live pig production at Seara Alimentos, a JBS company in Brazil, is joined by Dr. Matthew Turner, head of operations for JBS Live Pork. Together, they discuss how labor, climate and ventilation challenges vary between Brazil and the United States, while underscoring their shared commitment to raising healthy pigs. They also point to lessons producers in both countries can take from one another’s systems and on-farm experiences. Then, Brady Reicks, risk manager at Reicks View Farms, shares his perspective on risk management, drawing from his background in markets and his transition into farming. He discusses how protecting margins varies by operation and offers practical approaches producers can use to make marketing and business decisions with greater confidence rather than hesitation.

Both conversations were recorded at recent industry events focused on swine livability, including the International Conference on Pig Livability and Iowa Swine Day.