Dataset Information

Semi-Quantitative Risk Assessment of African Swine Fever Virus Introduction in Outdoor Pig Farms.

ABSTRACT: In a previous study, a semi-quantitative risk assessment was developed to rank pig holdings in terms of likelihood of introducing African swine fever virus (ASFV) by assessing their compliance with biosecurity and exposure to geographical risk factors. The method was initially developed for confined pig holdings, but given that ASF is endemic in wild boar of several countries, we modified the approach to make it suitable for free-range farms as well. In the current study, a total of 41 outdoor pig farms were assessed in an area where exposure to wild boar was generally high (density from 2.3 to 10.3 wild boar per Km²). As expected, non-compliance with biosecurity measures was frequent in outdoor farms, and the frequency of non-compliance indicated that the absence of adequate separation of pigs from the external environment was the major weakness in the farms assessed. In 46.3% of them, there was no fence or, if present, it was not adequate to avoid contact with wild boar. However, the approach adopted proved to be suitable for identifying intervention priorities to mitigate the risk of ASFV spread in free-range pig herds and for identifying the weaknesses of individual farms, as recommended by EFSA in 2021, which suggests implementing tools to improve biosecurity by favoring higher-risk farms.

SUBMITTER: Rusina A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10222819 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Semi-Quantitative Risk Assessment of African Swine Fever Virus Introduction in Outdoor Pig Farms.

Rusinà Alessia A Valentini Francesco F Scollo Annalisa A Franceschini Giorgio G Salvato Sara S Cappa Veronica V Bellato Alessandro A Mannelli Alessandro A Bellini Silvia S

Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) 20230512 5

In a previous study, a semi-quantitative risk assessment was developed to rank pig holdings in terms of likelihood of introducing African swine fever virus (ASFV) by assessing their compliance with biosecurity and exposure to geographical risk factors. The method was initially developed for confined pig holdings, but given that ASF is endemic in wild boar of several countries, we modified the approach to make it suitable for free-range farms as well. In the current study, a total of 41 outdoor p ...[more]

PMID: 37242379

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Project description:A semi-quantitative risk assessment was developed to classify pig farms in terms of the probability of introduction of African swine fever virus (ASFV). Following on-farm data collection via a specific checklist, we applied a modified failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) to calculate the risk priority codes (RPC's), indicating increasing risk levels ranging from 1 to 5. The importance of biosecurity measures was attributed by experts. To consider geographic risk factors, we classified pig farms based on local density of farmed pigs, and on the estimated wild boar population density. The combination of RPC's with geographical risk factors resulted into a final ranking of pig farms in terms of the risk of ASFV introduction. Furthermore, the estimation of frequency and levels of non-compliance with biosecurity measures was used to identify weak points in risk prevention at farm level. The outcome of the risk assessment was affected by choices in assigning non-compliance scores and importance to specific components of biosecurity. The method was applied in 60 commercial farms in major pig production areas in Italy. Furthermore, we applied a reduced version of our checklist in 12 non-commercial/small commercial (≤20 pigs) farms in the northern Apennines. In commercial farms, highest RPC's were obtained for biosecurity measures associated with personnel practices and farm buildings/planimetry. Intervention should be addressed to training of personnel on biosecurity and ASF, to avoid contacts with other pig herds, and to improve practices in the entrance into the farm. Sharing trucks with other farms, and loading/unloading of pigs were other weak points. Fencing was classified as insufficient in 70% of the commercial farms. Among these farms, breeding units were characterised by the lowest risk of ASFV introduction (although differences among median ranks were not statistically significant: P-value = 0.07; Kruskal-Wallis test), and increasing herd size was not significantly correlated with a higher risk (Kendall's τ = -0.13; P-value = 0.14). Density of farmed pig was greatest in the main pig production area in northern Italy. Conversely, exposure to wild boars was greatest for non-commercial/small commercial farms on the Apennines, which were also characterised by non-compliance with critical biosecurity measures.

Project description:BackgroundAfrican swine fever (ASF), a highly contagious disease affecting both domestic and wild pigs, has been having a serious impact on the swine industry worldwide. This important transboundary animal disease can be spread by animals and ticks via direct transmission and by contaminated feed and fomites via indirect transmission because of the high environmental resistance of the ASF virus. Thus, the prevention of the introduction of ASF to areas free of ASF is essential. After an outbreak was reported in China, intensive import policies and biosecurity measures were implemented to prevent the introduction of ASF to pig farms in Thailand.ObjectiveEnhancing prevention and control, this study aims to identify the potential areas for ASF introduction and transmission in Thailand, develop a tool for farm assessment of ASF risk introduction focusing on smallholders, and develop a spatial analysis tool that is easily used by local officers for disease prevention and control planning.MethodsWe applied a multi-criteria decision analysis approach with spatial and farm assessment and integrated the outputs with the necessary spatial layers to develop a spatial analysis on a web-based platform.ResultsThe map that referred to potential areas for ASF introduction and transmission was derived from 6 spatial risk factors; namely, the distance to the port, which had the highest relative importance, followed by the distance to the border, the number of pig farms using swill feeding, the density of small pig farms (<50 heads), the number of pigs moving in the area, and the distance to the slaughterhouse. The possible transmission areas were divided into 5 levels (very low, low, medium, high, and very high) at the subdistrict level, with 27 subdistricts in 10 provinces having very high suitability and 560 subdistricts in 34 provinces having high suitability. At the farm level, 17 biosecurity practices considered as useful and practical for smallholders were selected and developed on a mobile app platform. The outputs from the previous steps integrated with necessary geographic information system layers were added to a spatial analysis web-based platform.ConclusionsThe tools developed in this study have been complemented with other strategies to fight against the introduction of ASF to pig farms in the country. The areas showing high and very high risk for disease introduction and transmission were applied for spatial information planning, for example, intensive surveillance, strict animal movement, and public awareness. In addition, farms with low biosecurity were improved in these areas, and the risk assessment developed on a mobile app in this study helped enhance this matter. The spatial analysis on a web-based platform helped facilitate disease prevention planning for the authorities.

Dataset Information

Semi-Quantitative Risk Assessment of African Swine Fever Virus Introduction in Outdoor Pig Farms.

Publications

Semi-Quantitative Risk Assessment of African Swine Fever Virus Introduction in Outdoor Pig Farms.

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