DR1 Daily News - Dominican Republic

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Dominican Republic swine population suffered from an outbreak of the African Swine Fever, a debilitating disease that kills hogs. Back during the administration of President Antonio Guzman (1978-1982), the outbreak was so severe that the government dictated the elimination of the entire porcine population of the Dominican Republic. However, despite intense government efforts, hogs were hidden, and some still roam the hills.

Eventually, the Swine Fever epidemic was controlled, and the repopulation of the pig population with imported hogs was a success.

Since that time, there have been localized outbreaks, generally speaking, in small operations, and the government has been successful in controlling the spread of the disease. The issue is explained as there are no controls in Haiti and this has an impact on small hog farmers in the Dominican Republic who do not have the controls of the larger operations.

However, the recent...