Researchers from Kenya, Uganda and Australia chart the way to control African swine fever in East Africa

On 2-3 October 2013, a multi-disciplinary team of researchers who have been studying the patterns, causes, and effects of African swine fever (ASF) in Kenya and Uganda, shared their findings at a project closing workshop.

During the workshop held jointly with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases Operations (FAO-ECTAD) the team of researchers from Kenya, Uganda and Australia led by scientists from the International Livestock Research Institute shared data from their two-year long study.

African swine fever, which currently has no treatment or vaccine, is a highly contagious disease in pigs that causes nearly 100% losses in pig herds. Although it does not cause infection in people, outbreaks of the disease cause devastating income losses to farmers, and pig/pork traders. The project, “Understanding ASF epidemiology as a basis for control”, was funded by the Australian government as part of a research partnership between the BecA-ILRI Hub and Australia’s national science agency, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).

The discussions generated at the workshop are expected to mark the beginning of a concerted effort to improve pig farming and expand the pig industry in eastern Africa.

Presentations from the workshop can be viewed here:http://www.slideshare.net/ILRI/tag/asfoctworkshop