August 8, 2018

China must stamp out ASF soon, say officials

China is tightening quarantine measures at the border of the province of Liaoning, which has seen the country's first outbre4ak of African swine fever that killed 47 pigs as of Friday, Aug. 3.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARD) also said in a statement that it will launch widespread inspections, as part of an emergency response plan. 

It urged local authorities to improve oversight of veterinarians, guide pig farms to step up bio-safety management, and promote the upgrade of the hog industry.

These measures were taken as concerned Chinese officials in an emergency meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 7, stressed the urgency of eradicating the ASF epidemic as soon as possible and ensuring the country is free of the disease, Reuters reported.

The disease outbreak was discovered in a pig farm in the city of Shenyang, capital of Liaoning, on Aug. 1 and confirmed on Aug. 3 by MARD.

Of the 383 pig herds, 47 pigs were affected and killed by the disease, according to a report by Xinhua.

Moreover, China has culled 913 hogs near Shenyang and banned transportation of hogs from the affected areas.