Update on the U.S. Swine Health Improvement Plan

News

Update on the U.S. Swine Health Improvement Plan

A two-year pilot project to develop and implement an African Swine Fever-Classical Swine Fever certification for U.S. hog operations is underway.

Indiana State Veterinarian Bret Marsh tells Brownfield about the USDA-funded U.S. Swine Health Improvement Plan.   

“A lot of folks from throughout the Midwest and diagnostic laboratories and universities are helping launch this program that focuses on African Swine Fever and Classical Swine Fever and certification for farms, markets, and packing plants,” he says.

He says U.S. pork producers remain concerned about ASF.   

“Clearly African Swine Fever is on producers’ minds across the United States, appropriately because of some of the challenges going on globally,” he says.

Marsh says the program would “recognize farms as certified for ASF and CSF in the hopes of providing heightened biosecurity including traceability and eventually sampling and testing at the farm level to maintain certification,” he says.

The U.S. Swine Health Improvement Plan, a producer-driven initiative, is modeled after the National Poultry Improvement Plan.

Brownfield interviewed Marsh during the 2021 Midwest Pork Conference.

.