Analysis of African Swine Fever epidemiology and pig value chains to underpin design of an
ASF risk management strategy on the Kenya‐Uganda border
Closing workshop of the BecA‐ILRI‐CSIRO‐AusAID project (2011‐13): Understanding ASF
Cl i
kh
f th B A ILRI CSIRO A AID
j t (2011 13) U d t di ASF
epidemiology as a basis for control
2nd‐3rd October, 2013. Sarova PanAfric Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya
Invited presentation: Daniel Beltran‐Alcrudo
EMPRES, AGAH, FAO
Understanding the pig sector for improved ASF control in
Georgia – Cross cutting issues with Eastern Africa

Understanding th pig sector for improved
U d
t di
the i
t f i
d
ASF control in Georgia – Cross cutting
issues with Eastern Africa
Nairobi, Kenya – 2 October 2013
Daniel Beltrán-Alcrudo
D i l B lt á Al
d
EMPRES, AGAH, FAO

Brief history of ASF in Georgia
• June 2007 - Genotype II into Georgia
– Armenia (August 2007) and Russia (
( g
)
(December 2007)
)
• June 2007 - Joint FAO/OIE/EC
• 2008 - Technical Cooperation Projects (TCPs) in Georgia
and Armenia:
– Trainings:
• Epi trainings (20) for >1,000 private & state vets on surveillance, disease
control and epi
• Lab diagnostic trainings
– Purchase of equipment (disinfectants, PPE, fuel and lab
reagents & equipment)
– Awareness: Information leaflets/booklets for vets and farmers
– Research in wild boar and soft ticks

Current disease situation
• N outbreak d t since 2008
No tb k data i
• The disease is believed to be endemic (epidemic waves
in early Summer)
• ASF spread & persistence associated to backyard
• Role of wild boar and ticks still unclear
• Vet services very weak

The backyard challenge
• Backyard represents almost 100% of pig production
• High within-country and seasonal variability
• Many unknowns on the backyard, e.g. location and
numbers, pig keeping, slaughtering, processing and
trade (largely informal) of live pigs and pig products
• Vet services neglect backyard
• Prevention & control most challenging in backyard
– Poor compliance
– St
Stamping-out approach doesn’t work
i
t
hd
’t
k

The Village-Level Module: Prevention and
control of ASF in backyard
•
•
•
Objective: To empower village-level stakeholders to prevent and control
ASF
Interventions based on a deep understanding of pig and pork value chains
and a risk analysis/management approach
Expected outcomes:
–
–
–
–
improved awareness and biosecurity
sustainable community-driven prevention & control strategies
better trained vets
control of other pig diseases
Data Gathering:
g
- Interviews
- Workshops
- Questionnaires
Data Analysis &
y
Identification of
risk points/
behaviors
Design and
implementation
of a prevention &
control strategy
for backyard
Monitoring
g
through
performance
indicators

1. Data gathering – Preliminary data
– Expert consultations
– Workshops for stakeholder/value chain mapping:
• In regions with different production systems
• Gather 10-15 village-level stakeholders
– private and state vets, pig keepers, middlemen/butchers, hunters
• Draw pig and pork value chains:
– Identify main and secondary actors
– What happens to by-products
– Changes during festivals, presence of disease, etc
• Map live animal markets, free-ranging areas, wild boar
habitats, slaughterhouses, etc

Homeslaughter
Kakheti
farms
Other stakeholders
Trade / markets
Commercial farm
Pork (products)
Commercial farm
Fattened animals
Piglets
Boar
Dotted lines: event less likely
or only in certain periods
* Backyard
smallholder
Live animal market
(once a week)
(once a week)
Butcher
Middleman
Butchers sometimes own
some backyard p g
y
pigs
Backyard
smallholder
Consumer
Own consumption
Backyard
Backyard
smallholder

Homeslaughter
Racha
farms
Other stakeholders
Trade / markets
Butcher
Pork (products)
Fattened animals
Piglets
Through markets & shops
Own
consumption
Smoked pork (also to Tbilisi)
Boar
Backyard
Smallholder
(> 10 pigs)
2,000 pig
glets from
February
y to April
Dotted lines: event less likely
or only in certain periods
Pigs from Imereti Samegrelo
(about 70% of the pigs sold
at the market)
Backyard
Smallholder
(<10 pigs)
Middleman
Live animal market
(once a week)
No more than 10 fattened pigs/Sunday
Own
consumption
Consumer

Homeslaughter
Guria
farms
Other stakeholders
Trade / markets
Pork (products)
Piglets
Butcher
Own
consumption
Boar
Dotted lines: event less likely
or only in certain periods
Backyard
Smallholder
(with sows)
At local marke
et
Fattened animals
Consumer
80% of
animals
slaughtered
as piglets
Live animal market
(once a week)
Backyard
Smallholder
(without sows)
Own
consumption

1. Data gathering – Questionnaires
• Preparing the questionnaires:
–
–
–
–
Q
Quantitative data
Based on workshops’ findings
Pig keepers (30 min), middlemen/butchers (20 min) (and hunters)
Contents: biosecurity, husbandry, market chains, awareness,
socioeconomic aspects, wild boar
– Identify the best group to deliver the questionnaires
– Pilot tested for fine-tuning in Kakheti

1. Data gathering - Questionnaires
Implementation of questionnaires:
•
•
•
•
•
•
October 2012
By vets from 4 veterinary associations in Kakheti, Samegrelo,
Samtskhe-Javakheti and Shida Kartli regions
One 1 day training per region
1-day
4-5 local vets per region (total of 16-20)
600 premises (
p
(150 p region): 450 p g keepers & 150 butchers.
per g )
pig
p
Villages selection:
– Distributed throughout each region
– Main towns and more remote villages
– Different production systems
•
Basic info collected for each village:
– human & pig populations, % of households with pigs, and production systems

2. Data analysis
y
– Develop risk profiles for each stakeholder and region
– Id tif risky b h i
Identify i k behaviors and points i th value chain
d i t in the l
h i
that are most vulnerable to ASF and best for
interventions
– Develop a spatial ASF spread model/pattern, e.g.
social network analysis

3. Design and implementation of a prevention &
control strategy for backyard
•
Identify sustainable village-level interventions and mitigation
measures that will better equip local communities and vet services in
disease prevention, detection and control, e.g.
– Biosecurity, husbandry and health management protocols/trainings for
bac ya d
backyard
– Surveillance schemes
– Economically viable control measures, e.g. temporal enclosing of free-range
pigs during outbreaks
•
•
Revise feasibility and sustainability of approaches with vet services
and stakeholders
Implementation strategy that identifies actors, channels and formats of
communication, etc
– Development of awareness and educational materials for different audiences
– Trainings

Biosecurity/ husbandry and health management
protocols/trainings for backyard
• Development of materials:
– Leaflets / triptychs and posters with basic information on pig
health & production
– Trainings on pig production and health
– Trainings on disease p
g
prevention and control in p g for p
pigs
private
veterinarians
• Implementers:
– NGOs + Vet drug/feed distributors
– Veterinary Associations
– Mills and dairy processors
• Implementation strategy:
– The whole country: leaflets
– ASF-affected areas: leaflets + farming trainings

Preliminary results f
P li i
lt from
Questionnaires in Kakheti
Region
g

Conducted in Sept-Nov 2011 by State vets in Kakheti Region
Pig
Municipality Keepers Butchers
Akhmeta
3
3
Dedoplistskaro
5
5
Gurjaani
4
4
Kvareli
1
1
Lagodekhi
L
d khi
2
3
Sagarejo
5
5
Telavi
5
0
Sighnaghi
5
4
TOTAL
30
25
• 47 questions f pig
ti
for i
keepers (30 min)
• 22 questions for
butchers (20 min)

Key findings from pig keeper questionnaires:
•
•
•
•
Farmers’ income from pig farming is generally low (19%);
One third of pig keepers just fatten pigs (and keep no sows);
Few (16%) pig keepers produce most of the piglets that are sold for fattening;
Marked seasonality of litters and sales of fattened pigs :

•
•
•
•
97% of homeslaughtering between November and January, after
which most of the carcass (63%) is preserved;
All pig keepers homeslaughter;
Most (96%) p g keepers consume at least p of their p g 21% sell
(
) pig
p
part
pigs.
to middlemen, 4% to butchers and 46% give some to friends,
neighbors and relatives;
Buyers of homeslaughtered pig products mainly located in the same
village (80%);
Biosecurity
• Leftovers fed to pigs in 43% of households;
• Household waste mainly collected by the municipality (63%) but
(63%),
there are also some risky habits, e.g. burial (15%) or thrown (26%)
outside the household premises;
• 20% of pig keepers see wild boar nearby their farms;

Awareness:
• Most pig keepers learned about ASF through TV (90%), a
veterinarian (70%), radio (43%) and newspapers (
(
),
(
)
p p
(43%);
);
• 97% knew that infected animals transmit ASF. Still, bad vaccines,
the wind, water and mosquitoes were blamed by many;
• Pi keepers do not know what approach will authorities t k i case
Pig k
d
tk
h t
h ill th iti take in
of an ASF outbreak;
• The non-zoonotic nature of ASF largely unknown (
g y
(47%).
)

Key findings from butchers:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Only 4% of butchers interviewed sell imported pork;
All butchers homeslaughter the pigs: 39% immediately, while the
rest keeps them alive for even over 10 days (4 2 days on average)
(4.2
average).
When a pig gets sick, 18% of butchers admitted to slaughter it
quickly and sell the meat;
Pork contributes 65% of the butchering business;
Only 25% of butchers process the pork, mainly to produce fresh
sausages and minced meat;
Most butchers (87%) buy pigs from the same village or town;

•
•
•
•
36% of butchers sell to restaurants;
Customers originate mainly within th same di t i t (91%)
C t
i i t
i l
ithi the
district (91%).
There are periods (Apr-Aug and Oct-Dec) when some butchers do
not sell local pork at all;
p
The sale of carcasses peaks in September and October;
Awareness
• Most butchers learned about ASF through TV (79%), radio (46%)
and newspapers (50%);
• Half of the butchers admitted not knowing how ASF transmits;
• The non-zoonotic nature of ASF was unknown to 41% of the
interviewed.

Acknowledgements
• FAO Georgia
• Georgian Agrarian University
• National Food Agency (NFA) and
veterinary services
• G
Georgian I tit t of Public Affairs (GIPA)
i Institute f P bli Aff i
• Veterinary Associations
y
• FAO Headquarters colleagues