Pig farmers in the United Kingdom have been warned not to feed kitchen scraps to their animals due to a risk of them catching African swine fever.
The disease is spreading across eastern and central Europe, prompting government veterinarians to voice concerns.
African swine fever has never been detected in the U.K., but if it were to reach there, the consequences for pig farmers would be devastating.
ASF is a highly contagious viral disease of pigs that can be spread through direct contact with infected pigs, feces or body fluids or indirect contact via fomites, such as equipment, vehicles or people who work on pig farms with ineffective biosecurity.
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It can also be spread by pigs eating infected pork or other meat products and biological vectors, or ticks of the species Ornithodoros. ASF-carrying ticks are not present in the U.K.
European Union-wide animal byproduct legislation states that feeding farmed animals with catering waste or feed material containing or derived from catering waste is illegal and can result in prosecution.
Fruit and vegetable material that originated outside the kitchen and has never entered a kitchen and has not come into contact with material of animal origin can be fed.
Some commercial food waste can also be fed if it has undergone the correct animal byproducts processing and meets the requirements of the Feed Hygiene Regulation.
However, Northern Ireland’s chief veterinarian has said farmers must keep in mind the potential consequences if ASF were to land in the U.K.
“The introduction of African swine fever would have an enormous impact on our pig industry,” said chief veterinary officer Robert Huey. “No matter how many pigs you keep, you need to be aware of the potential consequences of feeding waste food to your animals. Not only is it illegal, but you run the risk of spreading disease which could be fatal to your livestock.”
He said good biosecurity is also essential in minimizing disease risk.
The rules also apply to those who keep pigs as pets because some of the outbreaks of ASF in Europe have been attributed to wild boar or domestic pigs consuming contaminated pork or pork products.
Viruses such as foot-and-mouth disease could also be introduced to the U.K. through food products. That includes food from vegetarian kitchens because there is still a risk of cross contamination from products of animal origin, such as milk.
The U.K. suffered the consequences of pigs being fed illegal waste food in the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in 2001.
That outbreak is thought to have originated from pigs being fed catering waste containing the virus, which came from outside the U.K. The outbreak resulted in the destruction of more than 10 million cattle and sheep.
