African swine fever: risk perception among farmers and hunters is high but biosecurity needs improving and cooperation needs strengthening

African swine fever (ASF) poses a threat to animal health and the pig industry. Management of this epidemic disease, in Italy as in the rest of Europe, has multiple levels of complexity. These are associated, amongst other things, with viral resistance, the heterogeneity of pig farming, and the fact that the two receptive populations – the domestic pig and wild boar – are subject to different stakeholders who do not always communicate with each other: pig farmers and veterinarians on the one hand and the hunting world and wildlife management bodies on the other.

The project “PSA-PRINCE” wants to understand the perspective on African swine fever of the stakeholders of the Friuli Venezia Giulia and Veneto regions of Italy (Triveneto). Adopting social research methods, the project involved in the initial stage veterinarians, wildlife surveillance staff, farmers, and hunters. In the following months, the forum was extended to local and regional authorities

To help respond effectively to this emerging risk, in 2021 the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie (IZSVe) set up the research project “PSA-PRINCE” (RC IZSVE 10/21), funded by the Italian Ministry of Health, on the prevention and management of African swine fever from the perspective of the stakeholders of the Friuli Venezia Giulia and Veneto regions of Italy (Triveneto).

The aim of the project, which will finish at the end of the year, is to explore the level of awareness of the disease and create opportunities for dialogue and exchange, with the ambition to build a network of players able to manage ASF efficiently and in a coordinated manner.

Social sciences to study risk perception

A key aspect of the project is the adoption of social research methods. Qualitative and quantitative techniques, such as focus groups, narrative interviews, and structured questionnaires, have been used to collect data on the perceptions and behaviours of various stakeholder groups in the two regions. These methods are designed to actively involve participants and to closely analyse the various viewpoints and complex dynamics characterising ASF management.

The initial stage of the project involved veterinarians, wildlife surveillance staff, farmers, and hunters. In the following months, the forum was extended to local and regional authorities to identify and discuss shared means of communication and operational strategies among the various institutional players.

The viewpoint of farmers and hunters

The importance of biosecurity measures

Farmers and hunters recognize the crucialimportance of biosecurity measures to prevent ASF from entering the farms, even if their application is not yet homogeneous within the different types of farm. Smaller and family-run farms claim to have greater difficulties, linked in particular to the costs required to adapt the measures.

Analysis of the data collected to date has provided insights into farmers’ and hunters’ risk perception, which is characterised by a heightened sense of alert and concern and acknowledgement that this is not just a question of animal health, but also an issue that can negatively affect the economy and wild boar population dynamics.

Farmers and hunters recognize the crucial importance of biosecurity measures. They report trusting such measures, which they consider instrumental in preventing ASF from entering their farms (although these have not yet been uniformly applied across the various types of facility).

While bigger, more structured businesses are better equipped to implement such measures, smaller and family-run farms report finding it harder, particularly in terms of the costs required to comply with regulations to bring their businesses up to standard. Hunters also report being knowledgeable of and observing the biosecurity measures envisaged for their pursuit, emphasizing their adoption of appropriate behaviour, particularly in relation to the discovery of wild boar carcasses.

Wild boars as reservoirs of the disease

In Europe, wild boars are the key factor in ASF maintenance and one of several factors in its spread, which is why farmers and more notably hunters express concern about the rise in wild boar populations in the Triveneto region and their management.

Hunters recognise that they play an important passive surveillance role and are in effect observers in the field or “local sentinels”. They report being able to perceive changes in animal nature and behaviour and to actively contribute to preventing the spread of the disease by applying hygiene and safety standards during hunting. While agreeing that biosecurity measures limit contact between wild and domestic pigs, farmers believe that the heightened presence of wild boar increases the probability of the disease being introduced into their farms through vehicles, workers, and external professionals.

Farmers and hunters in particular express concern about the increase in wild boar populations in the Triveneto territories and about their management. Hunters are aware that they have an important role in passive surveillance, and declare themselves capable of actively contributing to preventing the spread of the disease.

Collaboration in local disease management activities

Besides the institutions tasked with health management, including regional governments, veterinary and local health authorities, stakeholders agree that all citizens are responsible at some level for helping to limit the spread of ASF or to manage it correctly. Farmers would like to receive updated, detailed information on the disease through efficient, easily accessible information channels.

Hunters stress the importance of creating opportunities for collaborating with and receiving updates from the authorities tasked with prevention and of designing rapid monitoring and alert systems available to the population as a whole.

Impact and future prospects

The project is proving to enhance understanding and management of ASF in Italy. Findings to date already show many points of convergence but also some inconsistencies in risk perception among the various stakeholders. By strengthening areas of agreement and gaining better insight into divergences, the project envisages to prepare solid groundwork, paving the way to the development of effective preventive strategies and to the creation of a collaborative network among the parties involved. This outcome has been supported by adoption of a multidisciplinary approach and attention to the social and cultural dynamics associated with risk perception.