Officials preparing for the possibility of an African Swine Fever outbreak

No cases of African Swine Fever have been recorded in Barbados, but officials are preparing for the possibility of an outbreak.

This follows reports of an outbreak in the Dominican Republic last month, the first in the Americas since the 1970’s.

Speaking during a press conference this morning, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Indar Weir, says his team made a presentation to Cabinet during an emergency meeting on Monday.

From that meeting, a readiness programme was agreed on.

It includes plans to beef up screening for pork products at ports of entry and the addition of a field on immigration cards for passengers to indicate whether they have been on a farm within seven days prior to arriving in Barbados, because humans can transport the disease on articles such as shoes.

The Ministry is also planning to meet with commercial and backyard farmers in short order to educate them on how they can help minimise the likelihood of an outbreak.

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