December 12, 2024. Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago (IICA) – In the first week of November, a group of experts from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Interamerican Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA), visited Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago with the goal of training local farmers in taking samples and actions to control the ASF.
This delegation was received by the Ministry of Agriculture, Land, and Fisheries from Trinidad and Tobago, as part of the program of surveillance and prevention against the African Swine Fever (ASF) virus, within the framework of a new program for the Caribbean.
This is a surveillance and prevention program which is targeted to avoid the entry of the ASF into the country. It also includes other CARICOM countries -next appointment will be in Guyana- and will develop through an ambitious plan that covers 21 Caribbean countries, that will extend to Central America and the Andean region in South America. This plan answers the contingency in response to the outbreaks of the ASF that emerged in the Dominican Republic and Haiti in 2021.
Once the alert was established, a program was immediately created to help prevent the disease, and to raise awareness among different actors focused on the risks faced by countries and their industries. The best way to face the challenge, was through prevention and awareness programs, from the countries’ authorities in charge, but also involving representatives of industry and academia, and including farmers and final consumers, who must have the risks and ways to confront the threat clear, as they play an active role in the solution.
Of course, a job of this magnitude requires cooperation and contributions from different fronts. Therefore, the support of the USDA has been fundamental, in terms of its technical expertise and experience, as well as the financing support to start the program, always with the participation and help provided by IICA teams.
Likewise, in this experience the contribution of the MALF Ministry of Trinidad y Tobago has been essential as an official support in all the activities and agenda in the week´s work among all the actors involved. Diana Francis, Regional Specialist, Policies and Trade, from the IICA, explains: “The costs to eradicate the disease are so high, that it’s always less expensive to prevent. Each of the parties participating in this activity brings something to the table, but to this particular threat we put all our efforts to prevent. It’s a collective job, and the importance of the international cooperation is to share the same goal and that is to prevent this disease”.
The academic community joins in with its contributions and its work to establish a base that enhances the work developed in the field. Chris Oura, Professor of Veterinary Virology in University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus Trinidad and Tobago, talks about the relevance of the general support: “When you choose a country to help, sustainability is an important issue to guarantee the continuity of the program. Having the backup of the authorities by our side is a major issue. Getting funds is a big help, but having the support of the government is even more important to reach this goal”.
For a week, the USDA, MALF and IICA joined efforts in the field, on the task of meeting and sharing experiences, from the workshops directed by USDA experts to farms visits preparation in Trinidad, where the USDA team led the samplings from porks in designated farms in Port of Spain and in its surroundings. The exercise for the proper sampling collection and handling was essential for the locals who were guided by the USDA, learnt how to do it properly. This was a vital part of this work as well as the exchange of experiences and the transference of team knowledge.
The presence of the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries (MALF) of Trinidad and Tobago was essential to coordinate activities and generally have official support. “Our country is cooperating closely with our American and regional partners to ensure early detection and therefore prevent this disease from harming our swine producers,” said Dr. Lana Gyan, the Director of Animal Product and Health at the MALF. Likewise, the academic community joins in with its work to establish a theorical base about all the work that is done in the field.
Trinidad and Tobago join the countries contributing to the global goal of stopping ASF. This surveillance supports the entire central program and action strategies always with a goal to stop the disease. In some way what is intended with these programs is to set precedents and examples for other countries, since the experiences collected in each of these experiences will help to add and contribute to the same global objective.
This work involves important challenges, not only in the management of the disease itself, but also requires the union and joint work of regional partners, who will work in the agreements on everything from budgets for the different countries to technical resources. It will also unify the procedures and aligning with the same strategies, always with the aim of the surveillance and ASF entry prevention to other countries and thus preventing the spread of the disease into the region.
Of course, each country will use its right to face the crisis in their own ways, keeping their autonomy, which is recognized throughout this program, but it is essential to unify and create global awareness of what actions should be followed and the best ways to achieve them.
Eric Coleman, African Swine Fever Program Coordinator, Director of Emergency Programs at the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, concluded the visit to Trinidad and Tobago saying: “We can work together in most of the benefits for everybody here. Support, and not just financial, it’s a critical component, what it helps to us, but whatever extended can help to what we like to do, we appreciate it. We thank the people with education and ideas for help. So, we can work for advocate and help to spread the message and join all the efforts driven to stop the ASF”.
Finally, Ericka Calderón, Project Manager for this program, from IICA Central Office, made a balance of the work developed in Trinidad and Tobago: “This visit was successful despite the different challenges we faced in the field. The whole experience was very positive, and in the end, the locals taught us lessons learned, the staff has the capacity to carry out a proper surveillance. What is needed now is organization, a proper development need a written and organized plan when exercise surveillance systematically. With this visit this issue became clear, and that is what we are going to help improve”.
This visit to Trinidad and Tobago from USDA and IICA is part of a training prepared, which started in Kansas and Puerto Rico some months ago, and today arrives in Port of Spain with the goal of preparing the personnel and the country to face the threat of the ASF, strategy that intends to continue in other countries of the Caribbean and of the region, specifically Central America and South American countries of the Andean region.
For more information on African Swine Fever visit APHIS visit: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal-disease/swine/protect-pigs
More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int
