Models to help contain and control disease in pigs Diseases like African Swine Fever (ASF) represent a major threat to the health of pig populations, and can spread rapidly through a variety of different pathways. We spoke to Dr Salome Dürr about her work in exploring the different pathways through which disease can be transmitted between pigs, which can then be added to epidemiological models. An outbreak of
infectious disease can have highly adverse effects on the agricultural sector, and so it’s important to monitor farms and trade networks so that any cases can be detected quickly and the wider impact contained. As Assistant Professor in Veterinary Epidemiology at the University of Berne, Dr Salome Dürr is the head of a research project investigating disease transmission in the Swiss pig population. “We have developed an epidemiological model that we want to use for diseases that spread through different pathways,” she says. The focus here is on three specific diseases, namely African Swine Fever (ASF), Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome
(PRSS) and Enzootic Pneumonia, all of which can be spread through direct contact. “When you transport a pig from one premises to another, an infected pig will certainly spread the disease. A disease can also be spread by indirect contact, depending on how it is shed and how tenacious it is,” outlines Dr Dürr. A batch of pigs may be transported from one farm to another for example, and then another batch is transported in the same truck from a third farm to a fourth. A disease can be transmitted between different batches of pigs in the course of these journeys, via fomites for example, although Dr Dürr says not a lot of data is available on this. “These types of indirect contacts are not recorded in
the official Swiss animal transport database,” she explains. It is mandatory in Switzerland to record all livestock transports, representing an important source of data, while Dr Dürr and her colleagues in the project are also considering other potential disease pathways that are not officially recorded. “We wanted to explore - together with experts from the pig disease and epidemiology field, as well as farmers - what types of pathways exist. We also wanted to investigate how important and relevant they are in regard to these three diseases as well,” she continues. “We were able to identify 24 pathways. Now the question is; how can we put them into a model?”
Transports of pigs between farms in Switzerland within one day.
34
EU Research
