African swine fever dynamics: a major challenge to food and economic security to pig farmers in Uganda

African swine fever (ASF) is a devastating hemorrhagic fever of pigs, caused by the African swine fever virus (ASFV). The frequent outbreaks of ASF affect the food and economic security of farmers yet the dynamics of the disease, its risk factors and its effect on farmers are not fully known. In our study in Uganda, African swine fever virus was present in 42% of blood samples collected while 61 % of the farmers practiced free-range management system which increased disease spread in addition to other risk factors. The outbreak of the disease in many cases caused total loss of pigs in farms although it was difficult to estimate the actual economic losses because of poor or no record keeping by the farmers. However the failure of the farmers to meet their financial targets is a clear indication of economic loss due to the disease. There is therefore need to sensitise the farmers and the entire community on the risk factors so us to control the spread of the disease.