AFS Prevention Plan
Pork producers say they are more concerned about African Swine Fever spreading to the US, now that it has been detected in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack made clear during a speech at Colorado State University that the administration is moving resources toward a prevention plan and eradication, should that become necessary.
VILSACK: ” We have to act aggressively to help the Dominican Republic and Haiti contain this disease, so we can prevent this grave threat from reaching our shores. Today I am directing my staff to work with the Office of Management and Budget and the Treasury Department to transfer up to as much as $500,000,000 from the Commodity Credit Corporation to prevent the spread of African Swine Fever. We will use these resources to support a robust expansion and coordination of monitoring, surveillance, prevention, quarantining, and other activities in the Dominican Republic and Haiti to help eliminate the risk, while also shoring up our efforts here in the US to prevent the disease from getting to the mainland. We intend to do everything we can to protect our trade our economy, our pork industry, and the jobs connected to it.”
Vilsack said an outbreak of ASF in the US would have a devastating impact on our economy, the pork industry and would cause billions of dollars in lost production and in trade. It would force many farmers into bankruptcy and cost thousands of jobs.
