Dominican Republic receives funds to combat African swine fever

The International Regional Organization for Plant and Animal Health (OIRSA) delivered laboratory supplies to the Ministry of Agriculture as part of the national emergency caused by African Swine Fever (ASF) in the Dominican Republic.

The reagents delivered have a value of RD$5,872,000 (or its equivalent in foreign currency of US$102,294) and will be used for sampling on farms in the country.

“As OIRSA, we are committed to the efforts to control, eradicate and prevent ASF in the country, and we know that one of the fundamental elements in its fight is the timely and correct diagnosis of the disease. For this reason, we are now delivering to the Central Veterinary Laboratory (Lavecen) reagents that will be used for ASF detection,” said OIRSA’s local representative, Ana Melo.

Previously, the regional institution has supplied kits for testing African swine fever, which is a serious viral disease that affects domestic and wild pigs.

ASF is highly contagious, responsible for heavy economic and production losses. It is estimated that up to 100% of animals on a farm that become infected with the disease die. ASF is not transmissible to humans, so pork can continue to be consumed without risk.

The delivery ceremony was attended by the director of Livestock, Giovanny Molina; the director of Animal Health, Rafael Núñez; the director of the Central Veterinary Laboratory, Griselda López; OIRSA’s representative in the country, Ana Lucia Melo, and OIRSA’s Animal Health Officer in Panama, Carlos Moreno.

OIRSA also delivered informative and instructive material to the Animal Health Directorate that will be placed in the establishments, farms, ports and airports of the country to prevent the disease. It also provided audiovisual material to instruct visitors and tourists arriving in the country on the prevention and management of the disease.

“OIRSA’s support has been vital for the Ministry of Agriculture in the fight against ASF and its prevention. All their contributions add up to help us control the disease and give much more certainty to the Dominican pig farming sector,” said Rafael Núñez.

The Ministers and Secretaries of Agriculture and Livestock of Mexico, Central America and the Dominican Republic declared a regional state of emergency to contain, control and eradicate the outbreak of African Swine Fever and agreed that OIRSA would provide support in dealing with the disease in the Dominican Republic.

To this end, US$206,847 of OIRSA’s Regional Emergency Reserve funds were earmarked to deal with the outbreak.

Reinforcements

The authorities announced that Lavecen’s accreditation for avian and newcastle influenza testing was confirmed. This process had the support and technical accompaniment of OIRSA and a contribution of RD$4,764,200 or its equivalent in U.S. currency U$83,000.

In this way, both OIRSA and the Ministry of Agriculture join efforts in favor of the prevention, control and eradication of economically important poultry diseases that limit regional and international trade.

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