South America: Cooperation agreement on the reintroduction of ASF to the continent

The Veterinary Services of the two regions have decided to coordinate mechanisms for technical cooperation and diagnostic capacity for the early detection of the disease, strengthening the channels of communication between them, in accordance with the recommendations of international organizations (OIE, FAO, IICA) and the declarations issued by the Ministers of the Southern Agricultural Council (CAS) and the Inter-American Board of Agriculture (IABA).

Within this framework, the countries have agreed to work on measures that coincide in the following areas:

• Reinforcement of sanitary barriers: mainly in ports and international airports.
• Improvements in the control of passenger baggage coming from the affected areas worldwide.
• Control of goods received by mail and courier.
• Continuous training and education of veterinarians and paraprofessionals.
• Reinforcement of surveillance and biosecurity on pig farms, particularly those classified as at-risk premises.
• Availability of specific technical information on official websites.
• Evaluation and strengthening of the diagnostic capacity of laboratories.
• Permanent communication between the Veterinary Services of both regions.

In this regard, it is very important to urge governments and the private sector to support official veterinary services so that they have the necessary human, economic, and managerial resources to carry out the actions described above and others that may take place to prevent the entry of the ASF virus into the subregion.