African swine fever (ASF) is a disease with a mortality rate close to 100 percent. There is no vaccine and no conventional treatment against the disease. To reduce the effects caused by ASF outbreaks, optimal response mechanisms against probable ASF emergency disease situations need to be planned and rehearsed so that the disease can be controlled and eradicated in the most rapid and cost-effective way. These plans should be refined from time to time through simulation exercises and personnel should be trained in their individual roles and responsibilities. This manual provides information on the nature of ASF, and on the principles of, and strategic options for its prevention, control and elimination. Guidelines are given for individual countries threatened by ASF to formulate their own national policy on control and eradication of a possible incursion of the disease. The manual identifies both personnel and equipment and other facilities that are needed in a national ASF contingency plan. An outline of the suggested format and contents of a national contingency plan is also provided as a guide, which can be modified to suit the needs and circumstances of individual countries.