Spanish
San José,.- The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) on Thursday called on Caribbean countries to strengthen joint work and solidarity in prevention initiatives against African swine fever, a disease that poses a threat to production in the region.
"No country can tackle this or other transboundary animal diseases on its own. We encourage the principle of regional solidarity, which ensures that veterinary services throughout the Caribbean are not only stronger individually, but also better coordinated as a regional network," said IICA Director General Manuel Otero in a statement.
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Otero highlighted that "protecting animal health means protecting human well-being, food systems, and rural economies" and recalled that "prevention is always more convenient than eradication and that effective prevention depends on preparation and cooperation." The Director General of IICA, who is participating in Caribbean Agriculture Week in St. Kitts and Nevis, warned that African swine fever is not simply a disease of pigs, but that if it spreads in the Caribbean it can have a strong economic and social impact, affect food and nutritional security, and disrupt trade flows and markets. This is a highly contagious hemorrhagic disease that affects both domestic and wild pigs and is harmless to humans. IICA highlighted the joint work it carries out with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), in addition to Governments and veterinary services in the Caribbean to strengthen surveillance systems, develop rapid response capabilities to contain outbreaks, and promote biosecurity measures at all levels, including from large commercial producers to small farmers. Another need in the Caribbean is the beginning of a process of development and implementation of compensation methodologies and insurance for animal health emergencies. "Without compensation, producers may be reluctant to report suspected cases, and in the case of African swine fever, delays can be catastrophic," explained Otero. African swine fever was detected in 2021 on farms in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, which immediately activated the technical coordination of IICA with these countries to confront it.
