Govt plans surveillance investment to bolster animal disease response

The Ministry of Agriculture said on Tuesday it is preparing a major investment programme to strengthen surveillance, testing and monitoring across animal and food production to improve its readiness for potentially devastating disease outbreaks.

Minister of Agriculture Dr Shantal Munro-Knight said stronger surveillance and testing capacity were critical to protecting food security, trade and farmers’ livelihoods.

As she opened a workshop on developing a rapid response to African Swine Fever, held at the Hilton Barbados Resort, Dr Munro-Knight said Barbados slaughtered between 25 000 and 30 000 pigs annually, though that figure had declined from about 50 000 in previous years.