ST. GEORGE’S, GRENADA – October 29, 2026: A targeted, multi-stakeholder training program has significantly elevated Grenada’s national capacity to pre-empt, identify, and respond to African Swine Fever (ASF), a highly contagious livestock virus that poses severe economic and food security risks across the Caribbean region. Funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and delivered through a cross-sector partnership between the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and Grenada’s Ministry of Agriculture Veterinary and Livestock Division, the hands-on sample collection and surveillance exercise is the final installment of a six-country Eastern Caribbean regional ASF readiness series.
While ASF presents zero health risk to humans, the viral pathogen causes near-total mortality in unprotected domestic and wild pig populations, with cascading impacts that erase small-scale farmer livelihoods, disrupt cross-border agricultural trade, and erode local food and nutrition security. Recent confirmed ASF outbreaks in neighboring Dominican Republic and Haiti have amplified urgency for Caribbean small island nations to close longstanding gaps in veterinary staffing, diagnostic infrastructure, and cross-border coordination, given the region’s fluid cross-border movement of people and goods.
The Grenada training brought together a diverse cohort of frontline stakeholders, including public sector veterinary officers, Royal Grenada Police Force personnel, Grenada Ports Authority staff, and local livestock industry representatives, to master both theoretical frameworks and practical field skills. Trainees completed modules covering low-stress animal handling protocols, field biosecurity best practices, proper donning and doffing of personal protective equipment (PPE), sterile sampling site preparation, safe ear blood swab collection, and standardized sample packaging, cold storage, and pre-shipping processing. The instructional team included a seven-member IICA ASF specialist contingent led by IICA Headquarters ASF Project Manager Dr. Ericka Calderon, with contributing technical experts from Chile, Guyana, and Saint Lucia, alongside USDA International Programme Specialist Zachary Tipton.
IICA Eastern Caribbean Representative Gregg Rawlins emphasized that the training represents far more than a one-off technical drill for a vulnerable small island economy. “ASF’s presence in the Dominican Republic and Haiti makes this threat no longer a distant hypothetical for Grenada,” Rawlins noted. “Proactive prevention, early detection, and structured preparedness are non-negotiable to shield our swine sector and the thousands of livelihoods that depend on it.”
Grenada’s Chief Veterinary and Livestock Officer Dr. Kimond Cummings echoed that urgency, pointing to ASF’s devastating global track record for swine production systems and the critical need for unified, decisive action across the entire Western Hemisphere. “Even though the virus cannot make people sick, its capacity to wipe out entire local pig herds is catastrophic, and that demands constant vigilance across every level of our agricultural system,” Dr. Cummings stated. Dr. Ericka Calderon framed robust surveillance as the foundational first line of ASF defense, noting that well-designed monitoring systems do not just detect outbreaks after they emerge – they actively stop transmission chains before they take root. “Strong surveillance infrastructure lets veterinary teams map emerging risks, track movements of live pigs and pork products, and make fast, data-driven decisions that prevent large-scale outbreaks,” she explained.
Ministry of Agriculture Permanent Secretary Javan Williams stressed that the skills gained during the training must be integrated into standard, ongoing veterinary operations long after the formal exercise concludes. “These new capabilities will let us catch potential cases far earlier, mount more effective rapid responses, and protect our core livestock resources to keep local livelihoods stable,” Williams said, calling for sustained routine farm visits, timely case reporting, standardized record-keeping, proactive on-farm observation, and sustained collaborative engagement with local pig farmers and industry partners.
The broader regional ASF Surveillance and Response Project to Prevent African Swine Fever in the Americas aims to build a sustained network of certified veterinary and laboratory personnel across the Caribbean, upgrade national sample collection and digital reporting systems, and roll out coordinated targeted surveillance in high-priority, high-risk areas. Long-term project milestones include standardized cross-border regional information sharing protocols and pre-vetted rapid response frameworks that enable immediate investigation of suspected ASF cases and fast deployment of targeted containment measures to stop spread. Program progress will be tracked using clear, measurable metrics: total number of trained personnel, volume of safely collected and lab-tested samples, geographic coverage of routine surveillance zones, and consistent real-world application of trained skills in field operations. Officials explicitly clarified that the conduct of the training exercise does not indicate any confirmed or suspected ASF presence in Grenada at this time. As the final completed activity in the six-nation Eastern Caribbean IICA ASF preparedness series, the Grenada training marks a major milestone for regional collective defense against the livestock virus, with ongoing collaborative efforts between IICA, USDA, national agriculture ministries, and local farming communities set to further strengthen cross-border animal health protections, safeguard agricultural livelihoods, and reinforce regional food security.
Grenada strengthens African swine fever preparedness through regional surveillance and sample collection training
