African swine fever (ASF) is taking over the news headlines now, but it’s not the only foreign animal disease posing a threat to animal health, the national economy and the environment. Still, it is causing pig farmers to take another look at their animal mortality plan if a disease outbreak would hit their farm.
“All outbreaks start with one mistake and then if it is not managed well, it spreads quickly and then you have a national crisis,” says Neslihan Akdeniz, University of Illinois assistant clinical professor. “Being ready for a disease outbreak is important, it’s important to be precautious. We don’t need to panic, but we do need to be prepared.”
Akdeniz and graduate student Tiago Costa have been studying disease outbreaks that have taken place since the 1960s and recently reported their findings in the scientific journal, Waste Management. A key discovery was that if producers don’t respond quickly when an infectious disease hits, the disease spreads widely and gets out of hand fast.
