Of pigs and men: the best-laid plans for prevention and control of swine fevers

Implications

• Know your enemy (the disease and pathogen) through supporting innovative research. Government and the industry should invest strongly and continuously in research related to African swine fever. Important research areas include African swine fever virus (ASFV) biology, ASFV-host interaction, point-of-contact diagnostics, safe and efficacious vaccines, swine farm biosafety and biosecurity risk management systems, and high containment facilities that are suitable for African swine fever research.
• Science and technology alone are not enough without purpose and direction. All stakeholders of the swine industry should develop and enact science-based policies on foreign animal disease outbreak emergency management.
• To eradicate swine fevers, leaders of the swine industry and governments should work together. Governments should ensure their goals and policies are fully supported by swine farm owners, farm employees, pork processing plants, animal health companies, veterinarians, regulatory agencies, social media, and the public.
• The transboundary nature of emerging and re-emerging high consequence animal infectious disease threats requires global cooperation. This international cooperation should be not only in outbreak management, but also in research for a broader biomedical, social, and ecological understanding of disease systems.