The National Pig Association (NPA) has said a recent African swine fever (ASF) simulation exercise highlighted the importance of record keeping.
The NPA collaborated with the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) for the simulation, which saw 30 individuals from different organisations and government departments come together to discuss the consequences of an African swine fever outbreak.
The day was structured around a hypothetical scenario in which ASF was suspected on an outdoor pig unit from which weaners and cull sows had been moved the week before.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) aided the exercise by explaining the process of outbreak confirmation and answering questions about what would happen both on farm and throughout the supply chain.
NPA senior policy advisor Katie Jarvis said the group learned that many decisions taken by APHA and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) would be risk-based, and therefore the main piece of advice which was repeated throughout the day concerned keeping records on farm for government to be able to accurately assess the level of that risk.
Records for movements of not just live pigs, but deadstock and people (including staff) would be requested by APHA in the case of a suspected ASF case before the disease is even confirmed.
Therefore detailed, legible but preferably typed and up-to-date records are a must to ensure the process can move as quickly as possible, the NPA said.
‘Battleplan’
The NPA said Defra and APHA are experienced with using a detailed “battleplan” of daily and weekly meetings, which allows them to share information with industry and vice versa.
NPA and AHDB will be a part of this plan and will be best placed to feed information between industry and government.
It was suggested that large companies may want to nominate an individual who will act as the main point of contact for the NPA and AHDB in order to speed up this process.
While the scope of the exercise was focused primarily on pig movements, there were many questions on the requirements and restrictions on processing, the NPA said.
Much of the responsibility for this area lies with the FSA which will make decisions on a case-by-case basis.
