June 12, 2007

 

China scales up production of blue ear disease vaccine
 

 

In the wake of media reports that a new variant of the blue ear disease had been killing thousands of pigs throughout China, the country is doubling vaccine output for the disease to 189 million milliliters by August.

 

China developed a vaccine for the new variant of the blue ear disease and approved 12 companies to produce the vaccine in May.

 

The central government has allocated RMB 280 million (US$ 36.5 million) to fund vaccinations, Jia Youling, the country's chief veterinarian said.

 

Chinese authorities announced that the blue-ear pig disease infected 45,858 swine in 22 Chinese regions in the first five months of the year. However, various media believed the figure to be much higher, possibly crossing into the millions.

 

According to official figures, the blue ear disease, also known as Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS), has killed 18,597 pigs and forced another 5,778 pigs to be culled.

 

Jia maintained that there is no evidence that the outbreak of blue-ear pig disease has caused pork prices to jump.

 

Pigs killed by the 'high-fever disease' accounted for only 0.2 percent of the total pig population, he stated

 

However, he noted that the virus has mutated and caused higher mortality rates.

 

Pigs dying from "high-fever diseases" were mainly suffering from blue-ear pig disease but other viruses caused some deaths, he said.

 

Still, he noted that pig mortality in China has in fact lowered, from 10 percent seen in the 1980s to the 6-8 percent currently.

 

Other economists said a significant jump in the cost of feed and a reluctance of farmers to raise pigs due to previous losses were the major factors behind the rising pork prices this year.