Immediate measures have been introduced to protect pig farmers and industry from an African swine fever (ASF) outbreak.  

ASF is a highly contagious and deadly disease in pigs and wild boar that can be transmitted through infected meat, but poses no risk to human health. The new safeguarding rules will help protect UK livestock by mitigating its spread across the border to the UK.   

To safeguard the UK’s pig and farming industries, personal imports of pork and pork products from the EEA (European Economic Area), the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Switzerland have been banned from Friday 27th September, unless such products are manufactured and packaged to EU commercial standards and weigh less than a maximum of 2kg.  

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) have recently published an assessment of the risk of companion animals acquiring Salmonella, beta-glucuronidase-positive Escherichia coli (E. coli), Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), Campylobacter spp. and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from contaminated raw pet food, and associated risks to pet owners from the use of these products in the home.  

Raw pet food (RPF) has become more popular in recent years among pet owners in developed countries. RPF products are made from Category 3 Animal-By-Products (ABP) that have been passed fit for human consumption in a slaughterhouse but are surplus to human consumption needs. As RPF products do not undergo cooking or heat treatment there is no formal ‘kill step’ in the production process, resulting in an end product that can be contaminated with a range of pathogens.  

The survey taken from March 2023 to February 2024 detected a high prevalence of the above pathogens in RPF products. These pathogens are potentially harmful to dogs and cats when consumed in RPF and to owners via cross-contamination. 

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