The Minnesota Board of Animal Health has new outreach materials to inform the public, farmers, veterinarians and markets about how they can prevent African swine fever and other swine diseases.

Specific to ASF, flyers are available in English, Spanish and Hmong languages and provide background on the swine disease, how to prevent it with biosecurity and how it relates to the MBAH's oversight of swine programs.

Another new MBAH flyer is being distributed at select feed stores across the state. The "Know the Signs of Foreign Animal Diseases" flyer is designed for hobby or backyard swine owners. It depicts examples of ASF clinical signs they should look for in their animals while also outlining foot and mouth disease and classical swine fever.

ASF is a highly contagious swine disease that has not been detected in the U.S. to date.

The virus can cause a wide range of clinical signs in infected pigs and can spread very rapidly. Some signs of an ASF-infected pig include fever, skin discoloration, loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, difficulty breathing, weakness and sudden death.

ASF has been found in many countries around the world including Africa, Eastern Europe, China, Vietnam and Mongolia. ASF is not known to affect human health and doesn’t transmit from pigs to humans. There are no treatments or vaccines for ASF.

MBAH shares these disease prevention strategies:

To help keep ASF out of the U.S. after international travel:

Source: Minnesota Board of Animal Health, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.