Biosecurity practices and seroprevalence of African swine fever in Kasawo and Katosi Sub-Counties, Mukono District

Abstract

African swine fever is one of the major constraints to pig farming causing devastating economic losses for the farmers and wiping out entire pig farms. The majority of the pig farms in Uganda are small-scale and this heavily impacts the livelihood of farmers exacerbating the problem of poverty among the rural poor. African swine fever is endemic in Uganda and frequent outbreaks have been reported all over the country in recent years. The factors responsible for the occurrence of these outbreaks are poorly understood especially at the farm level. This study aims to provide an understanding of the factors responsible for the continued circulation of African swine fever and also give an insight into the extent of the African swine fever challenge. Blood samples were collected from pigs in different pig farms and tested for African swine fever antibodies using competitive ELISA. In addition, to further understand the biosecurity and husbandry practices at the farms, a questionnaire was designed and administered to collect data from the different farms where blood samples were picked. The seroprevalence for African swine fever in both Katosi and Kasawo sub-counties was 0%. 73% of the pig farmers were aware of the existence of African swine fever in pigs. There was a significant difference in African swine fever awareness for pig farmers with farm records (p=0.017) and those who had training in pig husbandry (p=0.025). 70% of the farms had their pigs housed and only 0.7% of the farms were fenced. Only 4% of the pig farms had footbaths. 29% of the farms reported African swine fever outbreaks in the previous twelve months. Pig farmers practices of slaughtering and selling of sick pigs, sharing boars, buying pigs from other farms, among others were the main risk factors for the spread of African swine fever. The majority of farms were grossly lacking in biosecurity implementation at the farm level. Though evidence of chronic African swine fever was not found in pigs, the occurrence of African swine fever remains a big challenge for the pig farmers in Mukono District. Surveillance and the establishment of gazetted abattoirs in Mukono District are crucial for controlling African swine fever in Mukono District.