The spread of pathogens through trade in pig meat: overview and recent developments

A number of animal diseases can be transmitted to pigs via meat if the animals are fed scraps of meat imported from infected countries. For this reason, garbage feeding of pigs is regulated in many countries. The major porcine diseases recognised as being significant for this transmission pathway are foot and mouth disease, African swine fever, classical swine fever and swine vesicular disease. The World Organisation for Animal Health Terrestrial Animal Health Code (the Terrestrial Code) offers risk management recommendations for meat from countries where these diseases are present. However, there is no Terrestrial Code chapter on porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS), a relatively new viral disease of pigs which, since its recognition in the 1990s, has become endemic in most pig-producing countries. This paper assesses the risk of spread of PRRS virus through trade in pig meat, and concludes that the likelihood of its transmission by this pathway is negligible.