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I
have never seen classical swine fever, formerly known as hog cholera. In
fact, a few days ago, it took me a while to think of its new name,
classical swine fever (CSF).
I
have never seen a calf infected by screwworms, rabies in a dog or cat,
or even tuberculosis in a cow. There are a number of other diseases that
have, at one time, occurred in our state we no longer see.
I
think that speaks well of a vast number of entities who played integral
roles in eradicating various diseases from our state—diseases that not
only were often devastating to the livestock producer, but also to
companion animal owners.
The
members of these eradication teams included private practicing
veterinarians, regulatory animal health officials, producers, public
health officials, stockyard owners, pet owners, researchers, legislators
and slaughter establishment managers to name just a few.
Pondering
where we have been, where we are now and where we may be going in the
future of animal disease, I had a passing thought, "Are we working
ourselves out of a job?"
As
I said it was a passing thought. I realize diseases are seldom
eradicated from the face of the earth—only from various areas, regions
or countries. We have been able to eradicate or greatly reduce the
prevalence of a number of diseases because of the concerted effort and
energy spent on the goal. And we observed the diseases, paid attention
to what it was trying to teach us and acted accordingly.
CSF
is a viral disease of swine that was first described in the United
States in the early 19th century. It does not cause food-borne illness
in humans, but causes huge economic losses to pork producers. This
highly contagious disease was eradicated from the United States in 1978,
following an intense 16-year effort.
According
to a USDA Fact Sheet on the disease, there are only 16 countries in the
world who are free of CSF. The fact we are free of the disease means
that if it should re-establish in our country, it would be very
devastating.
The
Netherlands, for example had been CSF free when an outbreak occurred in
1997-1998. The outbreak involved 429 herds and resulted in over 12
million pigs being destroyed in an effort to control the disease in that
country. Countries who are free of a specific disease are particularly
susceptible because there is no natural immunity and no vaccination
program against the disease.
The
most common transmission of the CSF virus is either pig to pig contact
or feeding of uncooked pork products to swine. It has been found the
virus itself may survive up to a few years in frozen raw pork. In
addition to an aggressive vaccination program, it was necessary to
change the feeding habits of hogs to get rid of the disease.
There
is a law in the Code of Alabama enacted in 1969. The law says it is
unlawful to feed garbage to swine. The law goes on to define garbage as
animal or vegetable waste resulting from the handling, preparation,
cooking or consumption of foods including animal or fowl carcasses.
Our
field personnel in cooperation with USDA Veterinary Services continue to
monitor the state for garbage feeding. This is done by checking
restaurants, school lunchrooms and other institutions that generate
plate waste, to assure they are not giving their garbage to a person to
feed to swine. While Alabama is not a large swine producing state, there
are several sizeable operations here. And even though the CSF virus is
not here in our country, we continue to participate in the surveillance
program.
CSF
is just one example of the diseases that has been eradicated or
drastically reduced in Alabama. I have heard some of our older cattle
producers talk about how screwworms would infest the navel area of a
newborn calf or castration and dehorning wounds.
I
have heard some elderly folks talk about how common it was to see a
rabid stray dog come into their community. Rabies still exists in
Alabama, but far from the common occurrence there once was. I have heard
the stories, but haven’t seen the diseases. I am happy to be able to
say this. This means the efforts to rid our state of certain diseases
have worked. And it continues to be effective.
So
when I ask myself, "Are we working ourselves out of a job?" I
consider the following facts: 1) Most all of the diseases we are
concerned about exist somewhere in the world. 2) We have a seaport and
two international airports in our state. 3) We border three states with
seaports. 4) There are thousands of people who enter our country every
day from other countries—many of whom have the diseases that concern
us.
I
consider those facts and realize it’s time to get back to work and
quit pondering silly questions. |
