USDA Updates Swine Hemorrhagic Fevers Surveillance Plan

Jul 18, 2022

The United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is updating the Swine Hemorrhagic Fevers: African and Classical Swine Fevers Integrated Surveillance Plan to reflect recent enhancements in the program. APHIS developed the initial surveillance plan in 2019 to further its overall ASF preparedness efforts. These updates reflect additional measures put in place over the last year, particularly in light of the detection of African Swine Fever (ASF) in the western hemisphere which has not been present since the 1980s.

In 2021, ASF was detected in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Because of these countries' proximity to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, APHIS promptly increased existing mitigations and initiated several new proactive prevention efforts there. These efforts included enhanced surveillance in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and additional surveillance activities in feral swine.

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Video: Next Mile Ep 1: Navigating Disease Prevention

The Next Mile, host Dr. Meredith Petersen, Director of Swine Health at the National Pork Board, sits down with Dr. Cara Haden, Director of Animal Welfare and Biosecurity at Pipestone, to unpack the National Swine Health Strategy and what it means for producers across the country.

Meredith walks through how the strategy came together: a producer-led effort launched in March 2025 in response to input gathered at the National Pork Industry Forum, built around two core goals, keeping foreign and emerging diseases out of the U.S. herd and reducing the impact of domestic diseases already here, including long-term elimination targets for PRRSV and PEDV.

Cara then brings the conversation down to the farm level, sharing how Pipestone scores biosecurity across seven key areas: air, feed, water, people, supplies, trucks and pigs, plus everything within the farm perimeter. She and Meredith dig into why farm leadership and daily culture, not just protocols on paper, ultimately determine whether biosecurity efforts stick.

Whether you're a producer, veterinarian, or anyone invested in herd health, this episode offers a grounded look at where the industry is headed and what everyday habits make the biggest difference.