Oklahoma’s recent hyper-realistic Foreign Animal Disease (FAD) preparedness exercise concluded this past week after four days of collaboration and learning. With the drill run on a working hog production site provided by the HANOR Company, more than 50 people were able to progress through the stages of disease confirmation from animal testing to humane depopulation and approved carcass disposal.
The project brought together a large coalition of pork production stakeholders, including The HANOR Company, the Oklahoma Pork Council, the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry (ODAFF), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the National Pork Board (NPB), Envirotech Engineering and Consulting, and agriculture emergency response consultant SES, Inc. Several participants even traveled from other states, including several HANOR leaders from across the country, Texas animal health officials, and water-based foam Subject Matter Expert (SME) Dr. Andrew Bowman from the Ohio State University.
Beginning last week, the exercise’s first day focused on the process of internal and external reporting of a suspected FAD on the host farm. The second and third days centered on planning and staging for the required on-site depopulation and disposal if the mock disease testing had confirmed the presence of African Swine Fever (ASF) or a comparable disease. The exercise culminated this Tuesday by implementing the chosen depopulation and disposal methods. Biosecurity, safety and all exercise functions were handled as if this was a true catastrophic disease event. Although the after-action report is still being compiled, the Oklahoma Pork Council feels confident the research gathered from the hands-on exercise will help pork producers be better prepared for the future.
To learn more about getting ready for a foreign animal disease(FAD)- click here for the web pages found on the Oklahoma Pork website.
