Vaccinating against CSF is cheaper 22 Oct 2007

The Agricultural Economical Institute (LEI) of Wageningen University and Research Centre in the Netherlands, having done a survey into Classical Swine Fever management, concluded that vaccinating is cheaper than killing entire herds.

The majority of the costs when culling pigs during a CSF outbreak is created by either destruction or vaccinated storage pig-meat. In the latter case, these costs are lower, according to the LEI.

However, in then case of vaccination, these costs pressurise the industry as a whole - it's not only those premises directly hit.

Ring vaccination
For that reason, LEI advises a so-called ring vaccination when the disease has been found on five or more locations. All farms in a 2 to 5 km radius should be vaccinated in that case. Less farms are said to be thus affected and the outbreak lasts shorter.

Research showed that consumers do not mind when the animals are vaccinated. However, there is a difficulty as authorities and industries involved have to agree on responsibilities.

• Landbouw Economisch Instituut (LEI)

• Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR)

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