Abstract:
South Africa has experienced an increase in the number of African swine fever (ASF)
outbreaks in domestic pigs in the last ten years. Intervention will be needed in the form of control
and prevention strategies to minimise the impact of this disease in the country. The aim of this study
is to prioritise which provinces resources should be allocated to for ASF intervention strategies, based
on the risk factors identified as pertinent in South Africa. A multi-criteria decision analysis approach
was followed using an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method to determine the perceived risk
of ASF outbreaks in domestic pigs per province. Nine risk factors applicable to the South African
context were identified from literature. Data on the presence of these risk factors per province were
collected from records and by means of a questionnaire. The risk factors were weighted by means of
an AHP. The decision matrix determined that ASF intervention and prevention resources should be
focused on Mpumalanga, Free State and Gauteng provinces in South Africa. Specific intervention
strategies should be focused on the confinement of pigs, swill-feeding of pigs and buying/selling of
pigs at auctions through a participatory approach with stakeholders.
