Traveling abroad? Help stop the spread of African Swine Fever with these tips

JACKSON, Tenn. — If you plan on traveling out of the country, there is a travel advisory that you need to be aware of.

The travel advisory is in regards to African Swine Fever. While this is not directly harmful to humans, we can carry this disease and potentially hurt the livestock industry.

The disease is highly contagious and you may never know that you are carrying it. If you do travel out of the country and come in contact with pigs, it’s crucial to make sure you disinfect yourself and your clothing.

We hear from leaders with the ASF incident management team for more on how this can impact the livestock industry.

“The United States is the second importer of pork meat in the world. The impact was going to be humongus. So much that the USDA has calculated an average of losses in the timeframe of 10 years of around $74 billion of losses,” said Fernando Lugo, chief of operations for the ASF incident management team.

Officials say if you come in contact with pigs or are bringing any pork back to the states, you must inform customs.

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