#16,508
Prior to the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in China in late 2019, one of the infectious disease threats we spent a good deal of time on was African Swine Fever - which, while not affecting humans directly - causes huge economic losses and growing food insecurity around the world.
After smouldering in Eastern Europe and Russia for a decade, ASF arrived in China in the summer of 2018, and quickly spread across that nation.
While China keeps exact numbers close to their vest, a May 2019 FAO Food Outlook Report estimated China's losses close to 20%, while a Rabobank Research report estimated between 150-200 million Chinese pigs had already been infected with ASF and that China's pig production would drop 30% in 2019.
We've seen other estimates (see ASF China: Global agribusiness suffers; estimates vary) proposing even greater losses, but no one outside of Beijing really knows how deep those losses extend.
ASF is often spread - at least locally - via infected pigs and wild boars, but the virus can live for weeks or even months in infected food products, and exported pork products are believed to be a major cause of the international spread of African Swine Fever.
In 2018 the FAO described how easily ASF can cross borders, and even oceans.
A robust virus with a long life
The ASF virus is very hardy and can survive long periods in very cold and very hot weather, and even in dried or cured pork products. The strain detected in China is similar to one that infected pigs in eastern Russia in 2017 but, so far, and while the investigations continue, the China Animal Health and Epidemiology Center has found no conclusive evidence of this latest outbreak's source or linkages.
"The movement of pig products can spread diseases quickly and, as in this case of African Swine Fever, it's likely that the movement of such products, rather than live pigs, has caused the spread of the virus to other parts of China," explained Juan Lubroth, FAO's Chief Veterinarian.
How ASF Spreads
Although there are strict rules against the importation of pork products from countries with ASF, internationally travelers bringing back illegal, and undeclared, food products (see Japan MAFF: ASF Virus Detected In Luggage At Hokkaido Airport) are a constant threat.
Larger and more elaborate smuggling operations (see 2019's Feds Seize 1 Million Pounds of Illegal Chinese Pork Products In New Jersey) can be as profitable as they are dangerous. How much gets through undetected is unknown, but it potentially poses a significant threat to both human and agricultural health.
Yesterday the USDA's APHIS announced the seizure of nearly a ton of illegally imported pork products from China, all confiscated from retail outlets in the New York City area. First their announcement, then I'll return with a postscript.
APHIS Seizes Nearly a Ton of Illegal Animal Products from China Found in New York CityPublished: Jan 13, 2022
Washington, D.C. – January 13, 2022 – During the past three months, from October to December, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s (APHIS) Smuggling Interdiction and Trade Compliance (SITC) program seized and destroyed more than 1,900 pounds of prohibited pork, poultry, and ruminant products from New York City-area retailers. These items were sourced from China, lacked required import permits and health certificates, and therefore are considered a risk of introducing invasive plant and animal pests and diseases into the United States. SITC anti-smuggling efforts prevent the establishment of invasive plant and animal pests and diseases, while maintaining the safety of our ecosystems and natural resources. The recent efforts to safeguard American agriculture represent a continued collaboration between APHIS, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and local New York City officials.
APHIS is concerned about these prohibited products because China is a country affected by African swine fever (ASF), Classical swine fever, Newcastle disease, Foot-and-mouth disease, highly pathogenic avian influenza and swine vesicular disease. ASF is of particular concern because the highly contagious and deadly viral disease that affects both domestic and feral swine of all ages has recently spread throughout China and Asia, as well as within parts of the European Union. Most recently, ASF was confirmed in pigs in the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
ASF is not a threat to human health, but it is a deadly swine disease swine that would have a significant impact on U.S. pork producers, their communities and export markets if discovered in the U.S. ASF has never been found in the United States – and APHIS wants to keep it that way. In response to the concerns about ASF, APHIS is working closely with other federal and state agencies, the swine industry, and producers to take the necessary actions to protect our nation’s commercial swine population and keep this disease out of the U.S. APHIS is also actively preparing to respond if ASF is ever detected in the U.S.
SITC’s safeguarding efforts also include other prohibited agricultural products. In 2021, SITC seized 224,568 pounds of prohibited agricultural items valued at over $1.7 million, helping protect U.S. crops and livestock from devastating and costly plant pests and foreign animal diseases.
Tips from the public also contribute to APHIS’ efforts in safeguarding American agriculture. If you are aware of the potential smuggling of prohibited exotic fruits, vegetables, or meat products into or throughout the United States, please contact the confidential Anti-Smuggling Hotline at (301) 734-8534 or email tips to SITC.Mail@usda.gov. USDA will make every attempt to protect the confidentiality of any information sources during an investigation within the extent of the law. Visit the APHIS website to learn how to Help Report Agricultural Smuggling.
In the fall of 2019, in Nature Sci. Rpts: Risk of African Swine Fever Virus Introduction into the United States, we looked at the very real possibility of ASF being imported into the United States.
Last August, in DEFRA: Preliminary Assessment Of ASF Outbreak In the Americas (Dominican Republic), we looked at the first detection of African Swine Fever in the Americas in nearly 40 years. It has since spread to neighboring Haiti.
While North American swine herds remains free of ASF, it continues to get new opportunities to enter our backyard (see USDA's A qualitative assessment of the likelihood of ASF virus entry to the United States. March 2019).
Although it doesn't get as much press as it deserves,the smuggling of illegal food products - including `bushmeat' - and the illegal transport and trade in wild animals and birds poses a significant danger to both public health and agricultural security all over the world.
The lengths that some people will go to move these animals, birds, and goods across international borders sometimes staggers the imagination, but for many of these items - particularly from endangered species - the profit margins can be huge.
A few notable examples I've blogged over the past decade include:
- In 2015's A Quail Of A Tale the U.S. Customs Agency intercepted 26 pounds of raw quail eggs at Boston's Logan Airport in the luggage of a traveler from Vietnam, who declared the items, apparently unaware of the danger they posed.
- In May of 2013, in All Too Frequent Flyers, we saw a Vietnamese passenger, on a flight into Dulles Airport, who was caught with 20 raw Chinese Silkie Chickens in his luggage.
- The following month we saw a traveler (see Vienna: 5 Smuggled Birds Now Reported Positive For H5N1) attempt to smuggle 60 live birds into Austria from Bali, only to have 39 die in transit, and five test positive for H5N1. Fortunately, no humans were infected.
- In 2012, in Taiwan Seizes H5N1 Infected Birds, we learned of a smuggler who was detained at Taoyuan international airport in Taiwan after arriving from Macau with dozens of infected birds. Nine people exposed to these birds were observed for 10 days, and luckily none showed signs of infection.
- In 2011, in Bushmeat,`Wild Flavor’ & EIDs, we looked at the illegal trade in exotic food, including bats, monkeys, large rats, crocodiles, small antelopes and pangolins.
- And most audacious of all, in 2010 two men were indicted for attempting to smuggle dozens of song birds (strapped to their legs inside their pants) into LAX from Vietnam (see Man who smuggled live birds strapped to legs faces 20 years in prison).
It has been estimated that as much as three-quarters of human diseases originated in other animal species, and there are undoubtedly more out there, just waiting for an opportunity to jump to a new host.
Add in the threat from importing (and releasing) invasive species, agricultural diseases like Rift Valley Fever, FMD, or any number of plant diseases, and the damage that these illegal smuggling operations can do is truly staggering.
Which is why the USDA maintains an emergency response system for a myriad of imported disease threats, including ASF (see FAD PReP Materials and References).
