Updated Dec. 27, 11:15 a.m.
There’s a threat on the horizon for Oklahoma’s pork producers: African swine fever.
The virus causes hemorrhagic fever that can kill infected pigs within a week. Agriculture Secretary Blayne Arthur said her agency has to protect the second-largest part of the state’s agriculture industry.
"The reality is, if we get African swine fever here in the state of Oklahoma, we are prepared to handle a lot of those pieces, or as much as we feel like we can be. Carcass disposal, we don’t have good solutions to at this point in time," Arthur said.
Arthur said the agriculture department is trying out above-ground burial with a pilot project at OSU. Donated sows are being injected with a pox virus that's similar to the swine fever virus and essentially composted.
If the trial is successful, it could help the state prepare to respond to the more dangerous virus.
"We think it’s a better option in some cases in different parts of the state, depending on what the water table looks like, and if we can prove through that pilot program that it actually totally kills that disease through that composting-type process, it gives us one other way to handle carcass disposal," Arthur said.
Oklahoma is the nation’s eighth-largest pork producer, and pork is the state’s second-largest agriculture industry.
