Alagoas records case of classical swine fever

The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Supply (Mapa) confirmed the registration of a classical swine fever outbreak (CSF) in the state of Alagoas, located outside the free zone recognized by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).

The outbreak has been confirmed in the municipality of Traipu, in a swine farm not linked to technified production systems, and has been notified to the OIE. The last occurrence of CSF in Alagoas had been recorded in 1994.

Since the confirmation, the property has been closed and the state veterinary service has sacrificed and destroyed all of the swine on the property. Other measures taken include investigations of properties within 10 kilometers around the outbreak and properties with some epidemiological link, and prompt attention was given to all suspicious reports.

“The state of Alagoas is part of the non-free zone of CSF, along with ten other states (AM, RR, PA, AP, MA, PI, RN, PB, and PE) and this new occurrence does not interfere with the status of the non-free zone of CSF recognized by the OIE, not justifying impacts on the international trade of pigs and their products,” emphasizes the deputy director of the Department of Animal Health of the Secretariat of Agricultural Defense, Bruno Cotta.

The clinical signs observed were circulatory disorders and erosive skin lesions, accompanied by conjunctivitis in adult animals and neurological disorders in young pigs. The diagnosis was confirmed by the Federal Laboratory of Agricultural Defense in Recife (PE), through molecular techniques.

Brazil’s CSF-free zone concentrates over 95% of the Brazilian pig industry. All Brazilian pork exports and their products come from the free zone, which incorporates 15 states (RS, SC, PR, MG, SP, MS, MT, GO, RJ, ES, BA, SE, TO, RO and AC) and the Federal District and has not reported an occurrence of CSF disease since January 1998.

The boundaries between the CSF free and non-free zones are protected by natural barriers and checkpoints, where surveillance and risk mitigation procedures to prevent the introduction of the disease are continually adopted, according to rules and procedures established by Mapa. Since the beginning of CSF occurrences, these actions have been intensified in the region.

“Following the confirmation of outbreaks of CSF in the state of Ceará in October 2018, the Department of Animal Health, along with state veterinary services, promoted intensified surveillance activities for the disease in all northern and northeastern regions of the country, which contributed to the detection of the disease in Piauí in April 2019, and now in Alagoas,” explains Cotta.

CSF is a notifiable disease in Brazil that only affects swine and is not transmitted to humans or other species.

In a note, the Animal Protein Association (ABPA) clarifies that the outbreak recorded in the state of Alagoas refers to a case of Classical Swine Fever (CSF), a different disease and of notably less severity than African Swine Fever (PSA), a disease that has affected nations of Asia, Africa, and Europe.

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