Covid-19 may have relegated concerns over all other diseases to the back of most people’s minds, but worries about handling an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) during a human pandemic prompted the Scottish Government to co-ordinate an industry-wide exercise this week.
Pig industry representatives and officials from all nations held a meeting to refine longstanding contingency plans in the light of social distancing and other movement restrictions.
Andy McGowan, chief executive of Scottish Pig Producers, took part in the exercise and said while plans were well rehearsed they needed to be tweaked to deal with the new circumstances.
“ASF is one of the top priority animal diseases and is the highest risk to the pig sector, so we all understand our roles in the event of the disease being found here, and key players would swing into action quickly.
“This week involved just adjusting some of the plans to ensure they would still operate effectively.
“Government has a lot on its plate just now, so I’m pleased they haven’t lost sight of some of the other things that were important before Covid-19 came along.”
Mr McGowan said the lockdown had changed rather than reduced the risk of the UK pig herd being infected by ASF as the most likely risk pathway is pigs getting access to infected food from people walking past an outdoor herd, and more people than usual have been exercising in the countryside.
Meanwhile, the catastrophic impact of ASF on the Chinese pig herd continues to have a positive effect on pig prices here. Mr McGowan said a growth in exports to China had balanced out the complete loss of food services markets since lockdown.
nnicolson@thecourier.co.uk
