The Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is preparing to establish a foreign animal disease protection zone in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in response to the detection of African swine fever in the Dominican Republic.
APHIS states that when this zone is established it will have processes in place in Puerto Rico and the USVI to (1) restrict the movement of live swine and products out of the protection zone, (2) conduct appropriate surveillance within the zone to quickly detect introductions of disease, and (3) conduct a public education campaign relating to biosecurity on farms and other establishments, prohibitions on the movement of live swine and products outside the region, contacting authorities to report clinical cases, and similar actions.
Once the World Organization for Animal Health recognizes this zone, APHIS will work to confirm that individual countries recognize and accept it, which it says will ensure the continued flow of U.S. pork and live swine exports.
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