Disease experts confirmed a case of African swine fever in Haiti, the second known case in the Western hemisphere in two months and a potential risk to U.S. hog farmers. African swine fever is harmless to humans but has a high mortality rate among hogs; it wiped out nearly half of China’s hogs in 2018 and 2019.
“While unfortunate, this detection is not unexpected,” said the USDA on Tuesday, since Haiti borders the Dominican Republic, where ASF was confirmed in late July. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said it was “committed to assisting both Haiti and the Dominican Republic in dealing with ASF and continues to consult with animal health officials in both countries to support response and mitigation measures.”
The United States is second to China as the world’s largest pork producer. There were nearly 76 million pigs in the country, according to a USDA report in June.
Imports of pork and pork products from Haiti and the Dominican Republic already were banned as a safeguard against another disease, classical swine fever. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has increased its inspections of flights from Haiti and the Dominican Republic to ensure travelers do not carry prohibited products, said the USDA. Last week, the USDA issued an order suspending shipments of hogs and swine products from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, part of the creation of a foreign animal disease protection zone.
The ASF outbreak in Haiti was announced by the World Organization for Animal Health on Monday. The Pig Site, an industry news site, quoted executive director Paul Sundberg of the Swine Health Information Center as saying, “One of the things that is very important for the United States is protection of Puerto Rico and making sure in every way possible that there’s biocontainment on the island of Hispaniola … We know it’s on the island, and we can expect that it’s broadly spread on the island.”