Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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167. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the measures in place to ensure that the pig sector is protected from possible contagion with African swine fever; if a case of has been reported or found here since 2011; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37788/19]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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While the threat posed by African Swine Fever (ASF) cannot be underestimated, it should be noted that ASF is not dangerous for humans, and meat from affected pigs does not pose any food safety risk.

ASF has never been detected in Ireland and my Department implements a range of controls to mitigate against the risk of the disease coming here. This includes monitoring the international disease situation, working with international partners and the implementation of an intensive communications campaign around the disease risk. This campaign aims to provide all relevant stakeholders including farmers, vets, hauliers and the general public with the information they need to play their part in protecting the national pig herd against the introduction of ASF into this country.   

A specific awareness campaign reminding everyone that the feeding of food waste containing meat products to pigs is prohibited was recently launched. This is a particularly important point as the ASF virus is robust and can survive for months, even years, in pork and pork products and the feeding of food waste to pigs is known to have caused outbreaks of ASF in Asian countries.  The key message is that it is vital that all food waste is disposed of safely away from pigs.  

Checks for illegal food products are also carried out by my Department in conjunction with Revenue at ports and airports using a targeted, risk-based approach. Manual checks along with a trained food detector dog and scanning equipment is used at Dublin airport to detect food in luggage, for example.

My Department also has a contingency plan in place for ASF to enable us to respond rapidly and effectively to any potential outbreak.