Veterinary - SPS Commercial Industry

Getting Started

During a foot and mouth disease (FMD), classical swine fever (CSF), or African swine fever (ASF) outbreak, Regulatory Officials may impose movement restrictions on animals and animal products for a period of time. An overview of managing animal movement in the early stages of an FMD outbreak is available. Although this document addresses FMD, some of the same approaches may be applied to ASF and CSF outbreaks. Moving animals will require a movement permit. Regulatory Officials may require each of the steps below are met before issuing a movement permit. Additional steps may be required in an actual outbreak.

  1. Request a National Premises Identification Number (PIN).
  2. Prepare to protect your herd
    • Create a premises map.
    • Write your enhanced site-specific biosecurity plan.
    • Implement the biosecurity measures included in your biosecurity plan.
  3. Monitor for FMD, CSF, or ASF.
  4. Keep movement records of animals, people, equipment, and other items.

National Premise Identification Number

Get your PIN:
Please call 919-707-3250, email ncfarmid@ncagr.gov or download the form to get started. In an outbreak, the PIN will allow producers to be notified if they are in a regulatory Control Area, speeding up a response. The PIN is also valuable when requesting a movement permit. It can link test results and other important information to a premises which may allow a permit to be issued sooner.

Already have a PIN? Now it is time to validate it.
The National Pork Board has a premises verification website that can be used to verify premises. Additionally, you can contact the NCDA&CS Veterinary Division by email at ncfarmid@ncagr.gov or phone at 919-707-3250 to ensure the PIN data includes a valid 911 address and a set of matching coordinates (longitude and latitude) reflecting the actual location of the animals on the premises. Start including your validated PIN on diagnostic sample submissions.

Enhance Biosecurity

Write a site-specific enhanced biosecurity plan! Work with your herd veterinarian and use these resources to get started.

Already have a biosecurity plan? Compare it to this checklist and make sure all the items are included in your plan. If not, enhance your biosecurity plan.

Are caretakers trained in biosecurity? Encourage caretakers to watch the videos available under Biosecurity Training Materials.

Disease Monitoring and Surveillance

Observe! Learn how to recognize when animals look “off” due to FMD, CSF, or ASF.
Record! Prepare to keep records.
Report! Develop an Emergency Action Plan so everyone knows how to report abnormal findings during an outbreak.
Sample! Work with your herd veterinarian to learn how to collect samples in the event they might be used to test for disease during an outbreak.

Movement Records

FMD, CSF, and ASF virus can spread on contaminated vehicles, equipment, even people’s clothing and footwear. In an outbreak, producers may be asked by Regulatory Officials to provide accurate trace-back information to identify potential virus exposure.

If you do not already record this information on paper or electronically, the example logs can be used.
Producers can use the SPS Practice Questionnaire for FAD Exposure to get a feel for the information they may need to provide in an outbreak.