Footnote 26: Welcome to Dublin
As in: meet the new fearporn (same as the old)
Arriving in Dublin, Ireland, I was greeted by the below picture:
Leaving aside virtually all things stupid and immature that came to my mind, here’s what the FDA says about this disease:
African Swine Fever (ASF) is a highly contagious and deadly swine disease that can affect both farm-raised and feral (wild) pigs. ASF doesn’t infect people, but it is readily passed from one pig to another by direct contact with bodily fluids from an infected pig. The practice of feeding uncooked food waste (that has not been appropriately heat treated) to pigs can also result in transmission of the virus if the food waste being fed to pigs contains contaminated pork products.
So, I suppose if you don’t bring live animals aboard, you’re fine.
This, of course, begs the question as to why that sign is there, and for answers thereto, we shall turn to the Irish government.
Ireland is free of African swine fever and it is in all of our interests to keep it that way as an outbreak of the disease would have a huge impact on the Irish pig industry here.
Although ASF does not affect humans or other animal species and meat from pigs does not pose any food safety risk, the virus can survive for months or even years in pork and pork meat products including cured meats, hams, sausages and salamis. If pigs eat food waste that contains infected meat it will cause an outbreak of the disease.
Even if you only have one or two pigs (or pet pigs), you are legally obliged to obtain a pig herd number by registering your pigs with your local Regional Veterinary Office. All pig owners should remain vigilant and follow the specific biosecurity advice below.
Remember it is illegal to feed food waste containing meat to farm animals as it can spread African swine fever as well as other diseases such as Foot and Mouth Disease.
If you care to follow-up on this, here’s a link to the most recent African Swine Fever Update by the Irish health authorities.
Also, remember that back in 2019, China lost 100m pigs due to an outbreak of African Swine Fever, as reported by CNN.
Who would want *that* in a world that’s quite likely facing food shortages before too long…
I've kept an eye on the pandemic response in Ireland. There seems to be a little brother effect at work (think Austria vs Germany; Canada vs USA; New Zealand vs Australia), i.e. a type of over compensation to more emphatically demonstrate their taking the issue seriously and their worthiness next to the big leagues players.
Although, most restrictions have now recently been lifted, the Irish have been very compliant (and proud of the fact!) in their masking, lockdowns, and vaccinating.
I hope you enjoy the stay and you are received more warmly than the official Covidiocy would indicate.
It seems like this would be an issue for cargo shipments (which can arrive via air, even if that is expensive), not passenger flights... The public is going to get so used to seeing signs for the next plague that they start to ignore them. Maybe...hopefully.