SHIC Applauds Ramped-Up USDA APHIS ASF Outreach

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.