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MN Board of Animal Health staff working on permitting
movement requests during the SFEAR exercise. |
By Sarah Schieck, Swine Extension Educator
Minnesota participated in a United States Department of Agriculture Swine Fever Exercise for Agriculture Response (SFEAR) functional exercise September 23 - 26. During the exercise Poultry Educator Abby Neu and Swine Educators Diane DeWitte and Sarah Schieck served as Evaluators. The exercise involved many players including those from federal, state and local agencies, as well as industry. The 14 states playing along had to work through a hypothetical African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreak. Exercise play included the following critical activities and tools needed during a foreign animal disease (FAD) response:
- Diagnostics
- Epidemiological investigation and tracing
- Information management, communication, health and safety
- Personal protective equipment
- Biosecurity
- Quarantine and movement control
- Continuity of business
- Mass depopulation and euthanasia
- Disposal
The functional exercise demonstrated the importance of preparedness and need for farms to have Secure Pork Supply plans ready to implement in the unfortunate event of ASF or another FAD in the U.S.
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