The National Pork Board has developed an educational video of a North Carolina hog farm to demonstrate the importance of foreign animal disease control.

The new video focuses on identifying and diagnosing classical swine fever (CSF) or hog cholera – a costly and potentially deadly – foreign animal disease (FAD).

Identifying a FAD isn’t as easy as it may seem. Hog cholera, for example, provides no symptoms that easily distinguish it from other systemic diseases like salmonellosis.

That’s why producers and their veterinarians need to consider the possibility of a FAD when pigs get sick.

Since CSF could show up in finisher-age pigs, the Pork Board cooperated with the North Carolina Pork Council to film a 3-D training video at an actual finishing operation. Other partners included Iowa State University, which provided the script for the video; the American Association of Swine Veterinarians, which will help distribute the video to veterinarians across the country; and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which funded the project.

The video can be shown to groups using a special 3-D projector and screen. The video will also be distributed in a DVD format that can be played on home computers. Viewers will wear special 3-D glasses to get the full effect.

The video is part of a complete package of pork checkoff-funded educational materials being compiled to help protect the pork industry from the threat of a foreign animal disease outbreak.