ASF, COVID and Biosecurity

Your health and safety while attending our conference, and the health of your pigs, is important to us. As you prepare to join us at the Leman Conference in person in St. Paul, please consider the following:

Transboundary Animal Diseases (TAD) Guidelines: 

To prevent the introduction and spread of African swine fever (ASF), classical swine fever (CSF), foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), pseudorabies virus (PRV) (Aujeszky’s Disease) and other TAD, we follow the guidelines of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).  If you are travelling from a country with ASF, CSF, FMD, PRV or other TAD, the following are currently recommended:

  • Do not carry pigs or pork products.
  • Do not carry shoes, boots, clothing  or personal items that have been worn in the presence of pigs or items that have had contact with pig areas.
  • Do not visit farms unless strictly necessary.

In addition to the above, we recommend extreme caution if you are coming from an ASF positive region of the world and ask that you observe a 5-day downtime away from pigs or pig areas prior to coming to the conference.

For more information, visit: http://www.fao.org/ag/againfo/programmes/en/empres/ASF/situation_update.html

COVID Guidelines:

We follow the recommendations of the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) and the Minnesota Department of Health. The best defenses against contracting COVID-19 and spreading the virus to others are vaccination and masking. Currently the recommendations include: 

  • Staying up to date with COVID-19 vaccines
  • Getting tested for COVID-19 if needed
  • If you have been exposed, wear a high-quality mask when indoors around others for 10 days, testing and monitoring yourself for symptoms
  • Staying home if you have suspected or confirmed COVID-19
  • Seeking treatment If you have COVID-19 and are at high risk of getting very sick
  • Avoiding contact with people who have suspected or confirmed COVID-19