The Ministry of Agriculture has widened its African Swine Fever (ASF) surveillance efforts to include Barbuda, as veterinary officials continue their mission to safeguard Antigua and Barbuda’s pig farming industry from the deadly virus.

A team of veterinary technicians, headed by Alexandria Dowdey from the Veterinary and Livestock Division, traveled to the sister isle this week to collect blood samples from local pigs. Three Barbuda farmers participated in the exercise, voluntarily allowing samples to be taken from their herds as part of the regional pilot project.

The ASF pilot initiative is a joint undertaking between the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Ministry of Agriculture. It supports government priorities in strengthening food and nutrition security through disease prevention and livestock monitoring.

Meanwhile, fieldwork on Antigua has been progressing steadily. Over the past week, technicians visited four additional farms and gathered 35 blood samples. The overall target is to collect at least 80 samples, all of which will be shipped to Plum Island for specialized testing on November 7.

Officials say the testing is crucial to confirm that Antigua and Barbuda remain free of the virus, which has already been detected in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

African Swine Fever is a highly contagious viral disease affecting domestic and wild pigs, with an almost 100% mortality rate.

While the virus does not affect humans, it poses a severe threat to regional economies, food production, and farmers’ livelihoods across the Caribbean, where veterinary infrastructure and border control remain limited.

By expanding surveillance to Barbuda, authorities aim to strengthen early detection systems and ensure the continued health of the nation’s livestock — a key part of the country’s broader food security strategy.