420: African Swine Fever - how worried should we be?
African Swine Fever is an incurable disease that is currently spreading between pig populations in Africa, Asia and Europe. It affects domestic pigs and wild boar, and has a mortality rate between 95% and 100%. There is no risk to human health, but the World Organisation for Animal Health says the disease is the biggest threat to commercial pig production the industry has ever seen. In the UK, there have been no reported cases, and the Government says there is a medium risk of it arriving here. So how are pig farmers and the wider pork industry preparing? What preventative measures can be taken? And how well will those industries cope should the disease be detected in the UK? Guests: Stewart Houston CBE, Chair, Red Tractor Pigs Rebecca Veale, Chief Policy Adviser, the National Pig Association Nick Allen, Chief Executive, the British Meat Processing Association