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 Soon the dog's handler discovered and confiscated a ham sandwich in
the purse of a passenger who had flown on a China Eastern Airlines
flight from Shanghai.
The danger? That the food might be contaminated with African swine
fever and spread the disease to the United States. China has lost
millions of pigs in outbreaks of the disease, pushing its pork
prices to record highs, forcing purchases of costly imports and
roiling global meat markets.
"It's very likely it may come here if we aren't more vigilant," said
Jessica Anderson, the handler for the pork-sniffing dog and an
agricultural specialist for the border protection agency.
Bettie is among an expanded team of specially trained beagles at
U.S. airports, part of a larger effort to protect the nation's $23
billion pork industry from a disease that has decimated China's hog
herd, the world's largest. Governments worldwide are scrambling to
shore up their defenses as the disease spills over China's borders,
according to Reuters reporting from nine countries. The efforts
underscore the grave threat to global agriculture.
African swine fever has spread to Southeast Asia and eastern Europe,
with cases found in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Korea, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Poland, Belgium and Bulgaria. Around the globe, those
countries and others that have so far sidestepped the epidemic are
cracking down on travelers, increasing cargo screenings and banning
meat imports.
GRAPHIC: China’s pig industry crisis - https://graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-SWINEFEVER-FARMERS/010090DR0KM/index.html
Pork-producing countries stand to lose billions of dollars if the
disease infects their industries because outbreaks devastate farms
and shut export markets. African swine fever does not threaten
humans but there's no vaccine or cure for infected pigs.
If the disease enters the United States, the top pork-exporting
nation with 77.3 million hogs, the government would struggle to
protect the industry, participants in a four-day drill in September
told Reuters.
"If this gets in, it will destroy our industry as we know it," said
Dave Pyburn, the National Pork Board's senior vice president of
science and technology.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) simulated an outbreak in
Mississippi that spread to the nation's top pig-producing states,
including North Carolina, Iowa and Minnesota. Veterinarians, farmers
and government officials gathered at command centers where they
tested their capacity to swiftly detect, control and clean up after
an outbreak.
The experience showed the U.S. needs to increase its capacity to
quickly test pigs for the disease and to dispose of the animals
without spreading it, said Pyburn, who participated in the drill.
In China, the top global pork consumer, the disease has been
devastating. The exact number of hog deaths is not known. Rabobank
estimated the country lost up to 55% of its pig herd last year. But
the Chinese government has reported smaller losses in the country's
$1 trillion hog sector since the first case in August 2018.
GLOBAL RESPONSE
The U.S. government is fielding dogs at airports and seaports,
conducting outbreak-response drills and adding capacity to test
pigs. France and Germany are killing hundreds of thousands of wild
boar that might carry the disease. France also erected 132
kilometers (82 miles) of fencing to keep out wild boar and is
planning stricter sanitary rules for pig farming, including
requirements to disinfect trucks that transport swine.
Thailand culled pigs in a province close to Myanmar, where the
disease has been found. South Korea ordered soldiers on its border
with North Korea to capture wild boar, while Vietnam used troops to
ensure infected pigs were culled.
Australia expelled travelers from Vietnam for smuggling pork and
banned imports of pork products. Australia also deployed advisors to
Pacific islands in an attempt to protect its closest neighbors from
African swine fever. If such efforts fail, it could cost the country
more than 2 billion Australian dollars ($1.4 billion) over five
years, according to Australian Pork Limited, an industry group.
"It is certainly the biggest threat to commercial raising that we
have ever seen, and arguably the biggest threat to any commercial
livestock species we've seen," said Mark Schipp, Australia's chief
veterinary officer.
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U.S. officials plan to suspend domestic shipments of pigs among
farms and to slaughterhouses if African swine fever is detected. The
USDA and states could issue orders halting the movement of livestock
in certain areas as a way to contain the disease.
The USDA said in a statement to Reuters that the September drill
highlighted shortcomings in its guidance to states detailing when
and how to limit the movement of pigs. The government is also
increasing the number of laboratories it uses to test for African
swine fever.
"We have identified some gaps," said Amanda Luitjens, who took part
in the drill and is animal welfare auditor for Minnesota-based pork
producer Christensen Farms. "The thought of it making it to the
United States is scary."
BANS ON GARBAGE FEEDING
Travelers transporting meat represent the biggest risk for African
swine fever to spread to the United States because the disease can
live for weeks in pork products, Pyburn said.
Contaminated food can be fed to feral pigs or livestock in a
practice known as garbage feeding, which the USDA says has caused
outbreaks of swine diseases around the world. U.S. farmers are
supposed to obtain a license to feed pigs with food waste that
contains meat and cook it to kill disease organisms.
African swine fever can also spread from pig to pig, from bites by
infectious ticks and through objects such as trucks, clothing and
shoes that have come into contact with the virus.
China banned the transportation of live pigs from infected provinces
and neighboring regions in an unsuccessful bid to contain its
outbreaks. It also culled pigs and outlawed the use of kitchen waste
for swine feed.
The disease has been detected in food products seized at airports in
South Korea, Japan, Australia, the Philippines and northern Ireland.
African swine fever is thought to have arrived in the Philippines
through contaminated pork smuggled from China. The Philippines is
now conducting mandatory checks on carry-on luggage of passengers
from countries with outbreaks.
The government of the province of Cebu in central Philippines banned
imported products and those from the main Philippine island of Luzon
to avoid swine fever. More than 60,000 pigs have died or been culled
in Luzon because of the disease. The Philippines Department of
Agriculture also banned garbage feeding that included leftover food
from airports, airlines and seaports.
In the United States, low inspection rates at ports of entry
increase the likelihood for illegal pork to enter the country
undetected, the USDA said in a report assessing the risk from
African swine fever. The agency works with Customs and Border
Protection to alert all U.S. ports each time a new country is
confirmed to have the disease, requesting increased scrutiny on
travelers and shipments.
But Customs and Border Protection estimates it needs 3,148 people to
specialize in agricultural inspections at entry points like airports
and only has about 2,500.
The U.S. Senate last year authorized the annual hiring of 240
agricultural specialists a year until the workforce shortage is
filled, and the training and assignment of 20 new canine teams a
year. The government approved 60 new beagle teams to work at
airports and seaports last year, for a total of 179 teams, according
to USDA.
Those teams face a daunting challenge, said Senator Gary Peters, a
Michigan Democrat who introduced the legislation with other
lawmakers.
"Every day, millions of passengers and tens of thousands of shipping
containers carrying food products cross our nation's borders," he
said, "any one of which could do significant damage to America's
food supply and agricultural industries."
(Reporting by Tom Polansek in Chicago, Enrico Dela Cruz in Manila,
Colin Packham and John Mair in Sydney, Nigel Hunt in London, Gus
Trompiz in Paris; Editing by Caroline Stauffer and Brian Thevenot)
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