Business continuity in the face of ASF: Compartmentalisation and enterprise biosecurity
Completed project (2019)
Project summary
Identify the requirements for an ASF-free swine compartment, provide guidance for implementation, and discuss advantages and challenges of the approach.
Background
The current pandemic of African Swine Fever (ASF) is causing major losses to the swine industry worldwide. The World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) allows for the use of compartmentalization to address the threat to business continuity posed by infectious animal diseases. Although compartments have been implemented for various diseases and production types, no ASF-free swine compartment has been published by WOAH to date.
Project description
We performed a comprehensive review of the available scientific literature and international standards to define the requirements for an ASF-free swine compartment. Then, we conducted a desk-based and on-site assessment of a vertically integrated commercial swine production system of a North American producer to develop practical, ASF-specific recommendations for implementation of compartmentalization, and discuss advantages and challenges of the approach.
Key findings
- Our study identified that the implementation of compartmentalization for ASF first requires the development of a standard for compartmentalization in coordination with all relevant stakeholders including a governance structure, biosecurity standards, animal traceability, auditing, and a national ASF surveillance system.
- At the compartment level, biosecurity is sufficient to mitigate the risk of introduction of virus. Biosecurity, segregation and traceability ensure that compartment products are not exposed to contamination with ASF virus outside the compartment boundaries.
- Last, barn-based observational surveillance and testing of surveillance samples can be designed to support early detection and demonstrate freedom from ASF.
- Integrated production systems lend themselves well to compartmentalization for ASF purposes. Although substantial work is required to define standard programme, development of compartmentalization showed benefits beyond ASF preparedness, such as strengthening overall systems and building trusting partnerships between industry and government as well as trading partners.
