Maintaining continuity in animal production in the face of African Swine Fever

Compartmentalisation for African Swine Fever

The global ASF pandemic is severe, widespread and presents an ongoing risk to many ASF-free countries with important pig production industries. The consequences of an outbreak to individual companies are considerable. National governments are planning for outbreaks using traditional disease control and eradication approaches. These focus on movement restrictions, culling, disposal and decontamination, surveillance and zoning. During the potentially lengthy process of eradication and regaining national free status, private pork-producing companies are likely to suffer major challenges to business continuity.

This business vulnerability can be addressed in part by establishing a compartment in advance of an outbreak. Compartmentalisation is not the only tool that should be pursued, however for suitable pork producers compartmentalisation can enable trade and pig movements even in the face of an outbreak of ASF. It can assist both exporting and domestically trading companies. Creating an ASF-free compartment can take time, is complex, and requires cooperation from the national veterinary authority and trading partners. It generally also requires inputs from several areas of external expertise.

The successful implementation of a compartment is supported by international standards and has potential to address business continuity risks for some producers. For larger pork production companies, company boards and managers should be carefully considering compartmentalisation as one of several key risk mitigation strategies for ASF.

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