A New Line Of Defence To Protect The Pork Industry From Fatal Disease

Minister for Agriculture Adam Marshall has today unveiled a new suite of tools to help safeguard the pork industry from the devastating threats posed by African swine fever (ASF).

Mr Marshall said after collaboration between government and industry, the state’s pig producers – large and small-scale – would now have access to a comprehensive toolkit to help with biosecurity practices, crisis planning and record keeping.

“This initiative used social research to better understand biosecurity planning and how we can help implement low-cost but effective strategies,” Mr Marshall said.

“African swine fever has a near 100 per cent mortality rate in infected pigs, with no vaccine available. If it reached our shores, an outbreak would decimate our $2B industry.

"Putting effective biosecurity plans like these in place can help our pig producers better prepare for emergency animal disease events, which could have catastrophic effects.

“The project is a best-practice example of government and industry collaborating to implement on-farm biosecurity action, protecting against pests and diseases.”

The project resources are now available on the Farm Biosecurity webpage. For more information, visit www.farmbiosecurity.com.au/industry/pigs.

The two-year NSW Pig Health and Biosecurity management planning project is being undertaken in partnership with Local Land Services (LLS), Charles Sturt University’s Graham Centre and the Pork Industry's ASF liaisons.

Australian Pork Limited Chief Executive Officer Margot Andrae said producers want to protect themselves against an emergency animal disease incursion.

“In the face of an unprecedented animal pandemic, industry and government have come together to give producers the tools they need,” Ms Andrae said.

“A collaboration of this scale brings one clear voice of truth and strengthens national on-farm biosecurity for all, no matter if it’s one pig or 10,000 pigs.”