 African swine fever, ASF, is a deadly viral disease that affects both domestic and feral swine of all ages. While it poses no risk to human health and cannot be transmitted from pigs to humans, its discovery in St. Lucia would have a significant impact on livestock producers, their communities, and the economy. As of the 28th of July, the Dominican Republic reported its first case of ASF. Acting Chief Veterinary Officer of the Livestock and Veterinary Services Division, Dr. Shamin Melvin Edwin, says the region is now on high alert to ensure that this disease remains at bay. We are happy that presently this disease does not exist in St. Lucia. However, African swine fever is a viral disease, a hemorrhagic disease, a disease that causes severe hemorrhaging, internal hemorrhaging. We see a lot of hemorrhaging in the organs, in the heart, in the spleen, in the kidneys. And so there's a lot of redness. You notice a lot of redness on the animal. The tip of the ears may be red. The abdomen, the extremities, very red. So it's one of the diseases that we call red diseases of pigs. And so in addition to the redness, you may see that the animals will be depressed, they'll huddle together, they may become anorexic, they lose their appetite, so they will not eat for you. The females may experience abortion, you may have formating, you may have diarrhea, you may have cyanosis, or which basically means that poor blood circulation, so you'll begin to see the areas beginning to turn blue because of the lack of oxygen. And so this is highly, highly, you can understand the devastating effect that this will have on our pig sector if this disease were to enter. According to Dr. Melville Edwin, there is currently no treatment or vaccine available for this disease. She explains that the only way to stop this disease is to depopulate all swine herds that have been infected or have been exposed to it. Travelers are advised to be cautious and avoid transporting pork products as the disease can be transmitted through them. We need to have proper biosecurity measures on farm. What do I mean by biosecurity measures? When that you take the proper precautions, persons who are coming and ensure that persons who are coming to your farm are persons who only need to be there. The clothing that you wear on your farm is not the same clothing that you wear out on the streets. Use your foot baths so this infects your boots, this infects your clothing when you enter the farm or when you leave the farm. Farmers, the use of food scraps is not encouraged, it's not encouraged because again as we know the virus can be transmitted through food, through pork products. However we do understand the economic impact and the high cost of production. So we are encouraging farmers if you have to use swill, you have to use feed scraps, make sure it is cooked at high temperatures. The virus can be destroyed at high temperatures for a certain amount of time. Dr Melville reiterated the importance of public vigilance in the fight against the African swine fever. Farmers are asked to contact their local extension office or the veterinary and livestock services division if they notice any signs of the African swine fever. From the communications unit of the Ministry of Agriculture, I am Anisia Antoine reporting.