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Government steps up campaign to tackle African swine fever
The risk of ASF infection in the UK is currently considered to be low.
Pet pig keepers urged to complete survey on disease.

The UK government has launched a survey aimed at small-scale pig keepers, including smallholders, pet pig keepers and hobbyists, on African swine fever (ASF).

It forms part of a campaign to tackle the introduction and spread of ASF, which has devastated pig populations across much of China and has recently been circulating in parts of Europe.

The survey seeks to find out what small-scale pig keepers already know about the disease, identify their feeding and biosecurity practices, and discover what sources they refer to for guidance on keeping pigs.

Findings will be used to improve the information available to pig keepers to help protect the health of their pigs and the UK pig industry.

UK Chief Veterinary Officer Christine Middlemiss commented: “African swine fever has no cure and there are currently no effective vaccines. If it were to reach the UK, it would have a devastating impact on commercial pig keepers, small-scale pig keepers and pet pig keepers alike. Everyone who keeps pigs can take actions to contribute to keeping African swine fever out of the UK.

“If you are a small-scale pig keeper or keep pigs as pets, please complete the survey to help governments across the UK understand more about your knowledge of the disease and your pig keeping practices. This will help us to provide you with the information you need to protect the health of your pigs and all UK pigs.”

ASF is a notifiable disease of pigs that has caused serious production and economic loss across the globe. It is highly contagious and can result in death for almost all pigs that are infected.

In the UK, the risk of infection is currently considered to be low but is highly dependent on the level of biosecurity on individual pig premises.

The survey can be found here and closes on 31 August 2020.

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RCVS Knowledge appoints Veterinary Evidence editor-in-chief

News Story 1
 RCVS Knowledge has welcomed Professor Peter Cockcroft as editor-in-chief for Veterinary Evidence.

A world-renowned expert in evidence-based veterinary medicine, Prof Cockcroft will lead the strategic development and editorial quality of the open-access journal. He was previously in the role from 2017-2020.

Katie Mantell, CEO of RCVS Knowledge, said: "We are excited about the extensive knowledge of evidence-based veterinary medicine and clinical veterinary research that Peter brings, and we look forward to working with him over this next phase of the journal's development." 

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News Shorts
CVS Group hit by cyber attack

CVS Group, which owns more than 450 veterinary practices in the UK, has been hit by a cyber attack.

In a statement, the group said the incident involved unauthorised external access to a limited number of its IT systems. As soon as the attack was discovered, the group took its IT systems temporarily offline, causing 'considerable operational disruption'.

It has warned that the security steps taken and ongoing plans to move its operational systems and IT infrastructure to the Cloud are likely to have an ongoing impact over a number of weeks.

Due to the risk that personal information was accessed, CVS has informed the Information Commissioner's Office. The company is working with third party consultants to investigate the incident.