Page 16 - Australian Pork Newspaper

Project commences to examine causes of tail biting
THE project ‘Elimi- nating pig tail removal to improve welfare and industry sustainability’, funded through the Co- operative Research Cen- tres Projects government program and others in the industry, commenced in January 2022.
The Cooperative Research Centres Projects government program funds ‘Eliminating pig tail removal to improve welfare and industry sustainability’ pro- ject. Photo: Alltech
ASF in Asia
African swine fever continues its relentless spread across Asia, with countries des- perate for measures to control ASF.
The Philippines
In November 2021, Thailand confirmed its first cases of ASF.
In the Philippines in May, 12 communities had active cases of ASF.
Based on the latest notifications to WOAH, the number of con- firmed outbreaks had reached 89, with more than 820 cases among 2864 pigs.
Official reports from the national veterinary authority outline a fur- ther 250 new cases of ASF at 86 locations, ac- cording to recent notifi- cations to the World Or- ganisation for Animal Health.
These were reported to be in non-commercial herds.
Of these latest out- breaks, 66 occurred in nine Mindanao prov- inces and 20 in 10 prov- inces on Luzon.
The three most re- cent outbreaks to be registered with WOAH started during the first half of May.
All were confirmed between March 1 and April 8, and affected vil- lage pig herds.
While two affected herds were in southern provinces, the other was in northeastern Thai- land.
They take the number of outbreaks in these two regions to more than 850, with more than 482,000 pigs di- rectly impacted.
First ASF cases in Nepal
Outbreaks in three Indian states
Nepal has reported its first ever cases of ASF.
While WOAH has not been notified of the ASF situation on India, local media continue to report widespread outbreaks in the northeast of the country.
Since the end of March, the virus has been detected at 10 loca- tions, according to noti- fications to the WOAH.
In the state of Miz- oram, the situation is de- scribed as “disastrous,” according to India Today.
All were in Bagmati province, in nine mu- nicipalities.
ASF has been blamed for the deaths of more than 37,000 pigs there, and the chief minister is reported to be pre- paring to declare a state of emergency.
So far, a total of 5167 pigs have been directly impacted by the out- breaks, including 3370 mortalities.
Since the first cases in March 2021, outbreaks have affected more than 50 villages in seven dis- tricts of Mizoram.
Authorities have at- tributed the spread of the virus to swill feeding. South Korea reports more ASF cases in wild boar
A further 14,000 ani- mals have been culled as part of the efforts to curb the spread of infec- tion.
Between mid-April and May 9, 63 more wild boar tested positive for the ASF virus in South Korea.
Over the past week, an outbreak has occurred in neighbouring Ma- nipur state – also in the northeast of India.
Found in the provinces of Gangwon, North Chungcheong and Gyeonggi, they bring the number of virus-positive animals reported to the OIE to 1022.
According to reports, about 80 pigs were culled at the farm, which is in the Kamjong district.
On May 21, the first cases in South Korea’s domestic pigs of this year were reported.
With investigations underway to establish the source of infection in the area, movement of pigs and their products are banned.
Affected was a farm with 1175 animals in Gangwon.
Meanwhile, all pig movements were banned attheendofMayin Sikkim.
This province is in the north of the country.
At the end of May, it was reported that new cases of ASF in wild boar had slipped from the nation’s news head- lines.
These measures were introduced after ASF was detected in this state.
So far this year, the number of confirmed cases – already at 738 – looks likely to pass the 2021 total of 964 cases.
In various districts of North Sikkim, 117 pigs were reported to have died of ASF over the previous two months. Taiwan on ASF alert
Total cases in South Korean wild boar had reached 2619, as at June 7.
Ahead of a major fes- tival recently, Taiwan’s authorities stepped up measures to stop in- coming pork products.
Further ASF cases confirmed in Bhutan and Thailand
The Dragon Boat Fes- tival is marked by the giving of gifts, and as at the end of May, the ter- ritory’s customs service had seized almost 240kg of illegal pork.
Since ASF returned to Bhutan in mid-April, the number of pigs affected has risen to 1008.
According to recent WOAH reports, this includes 423 more ani- mals that were involved in depopulation at the one outbreak site.
About half of these parcels were from China, including Hong Kong.
This is a village in the Chukha district, near to the border with the Indian state of West Bengal.
* continued P17
SunPork Pty Ltd is the lead applicant in this
To this end, Dr Sophie Ward has been appointed by APRIL as an early-ca- reer scientist, along with Dr Megan Lucas at the University of Melbourne and Dr Arun Kumar at the University of Queensland.
Technical staff at both Rivalea and SunPork have been through training ex- ercises to collect relevant production data.
three-year project.
In addition, Australa-
committed resources to collaborate on the pro- ject.
confidence as to whether they can raise pigs with intact tails.
to-face meeting.
Despite progress having
sian Pork Research Insti- tute Ltd, Australian Pork Limited, PIC Australasia Pty Ltd, Rivalea Aus- tralia Pty Ltd, RSPCA Australia, the University of Melbourne, the Uni- versity of Queensland and the University of New England have all
Dr Darryl D’Souza of SunPork Pty Ltd, and the project’s principal inves- tigator, will oversee the research and training that aims to provide valuable information to enable pork producers to make objective decisions with
APRIL chief executive officer and chief scientist Dr John Pluske said the project will provide sup- port and training for early- career scientists, postgrad- uate students and Honours students.
been impacted by Japa- nese encephalitis virus, floods and COVID-19, a desktop review and the initial fieldwork program were discussed and re- fined by the team.
Rutu Acharya, at the University of Melbourne has also commenced her PhD within the project.
This data will be used by the University of Mel- bourne and the University of New England to under- stand behaviour patterns and risk factors associated with tail biting.
Within the next six months, PhD students are expected to commence at the University of Queens- land and the University of New England, as well as the first influx of Honours and MSc students.
Further, the University of Queensland will in- vestigate options for new dietary and management strategies associated with tail biting in pigs.
Members of the project team who could travel, met in Melbourne in April for their first face-
Ultimately, this know- ledge will contribute to the generation of a decision- support tool that aims to assist producers in poten- tially rearing and man- aging pigs with intact tails.
Page 16 – Australian Pork Newspaper, July 2022
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