CFIA has been active in preventing the disease from entering Canada. Ottawa-For much of the last three years, pork groups and animal health exports have been working on keeping African Swine Fever (ASF) out of Canada and preparing for the fallout if it is found in the country. The recent discovery of ASF in the Dominican Republic has heightened attention to the killer pig disease but Canada has been working on prevention and preparation since 2019 and hog producers are confident the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) will go to war against it and succeed, says John Ross, executive director of the Canadian Pork Council. The greatest challenge will be keeping foreign markets open to the 70 per cent of Canadian pork production that is exported, he said. “We're working on that now.” But the immediate challenge will be what to do with all the surplus meat Canada could have on its hands if ASF is found in a hog here and importers shut their border to it. “What we do with a huge surplus of hogs? Unlike cattle, they can't be parked in a pasture until the crisis eases.” The animals that cannot be sold in the Canadian market would have no value and have to be disposed of. “We're still discussing how we would do it.” Composting or landfilling the animals are the most likely solutions. Canada's experience with the discovery of BSE in an Alberta dairy cow in 2003 has provided plenty of ideas of how the pork sector needs to respond and what it and government agencies should do. Just one pig testing positive for ASF could result in the immediate suspension of pork and pig exports valued at more than $5 billion in 2020. It's generally expected that if ASF is found in Canada it will be in wild pigs because most farms have adopted biosecurity provisions to keep the disease out and Canada has stepped up its inspection of travelers and products from countries that have the disease to keep contaminated goods from entering the country. The best way to deal with wild pigs is find ways to trap and destroy them as hunting only causes the animals, already considered a nuisance in Central Canada and on the Prairies, to scatter making them even harder to get rid of, Ross said. An ASF management board was formed after the 2019 conference and has kept meeting regularly through the Covid epidemic along with other working groups set up in the hog sector. “It quite phenomenal the sustained effort these groups have managed and the pace of their meetings continues.” They are trying to find and plug any gaps in the prevention and response networks that have been set up, he said. The National Farmed Animal Health and Welfare Council oversees the process. Alex Binkley is a freelance journalist and writes for domestic and international publications about agriculture, food and transportation issues. He's also the author of two science fiction novels with more in the works.