Hauliers warned over African swine fever risk
The advice cautions hauliers not to bring pork, wild boar meat or meat products back to the UK from affected areas.
Hauliers are being warned of the risks of bringing African Swine Fever (ASF) into the UK.
According to the National Pig Association, the UK's chief veterinary officer Christine Middlemiss has written to the Road Haulage Association, the British Retail Consortium, the Freight Transport Association and the Federation of Wholesale Distributors.
Ms Middlemiss is reported to have sent the associations a poster explaining why there is a heightened risk associated with ASF and what steps they can take to minimise the risk.
The advice cautions hauliers not to bring pork, wild boar meat or meat products back to the UK from affected areas. It also urges hauliers to use a secure bin to dispose of waste food, to never feed pigs or wild boar with meat or meat products, and to avoid contact with dead or sick wild boar.
Ms Middlemiss also gives instructions on how to clean and disinfect vehicles and stresses the importance for everyone travelling between the continent and the UK to take ‘several precautions to reduce the risk of ASF entering the UK’.
The poster and letter form part of continuing efforts by chief veterinary offiers to raise awareness of the risk of ASF to the UK’s pig population.
With Strangles Awareness Week just around the corner (5-11 May), vets are being encouraged to share a survey about the disease with their horse-owning clients.
