August 24, 2018

China announces fourth outbreak of African swine flu

Home to the world's largest pig herd, China declared its fourth outbreak of the African swine flu (ASF) on Thursday. The country reported that more than 400 pigs infected as the disease entered a fourth province, causing rampant worries about its rapid speed.

According to a statement by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the infection killed 340 hogs on three farms in the city of Wenzhou in eastern Zhejiang province, which is the fourth province to discover the infection and the furthest from the original source of outbreak in Shenyang, the capital of north-eastern Liaoning province.

In an attempt to contain the deadly disease, local authorities have already culled more than 20,000 pigs and now the main worry is about controlling the disease from spreading to other parts of China's vast hog herd.

To travel from Shenyang to Wenzhou takes a 2,150km drive south through the pig-producing provinces of Hebei and Shandong as well as Jiangsu, which is another infected region.

Thus, many are concerned that the disease may be transmitted along busy trade routes that take pigs from market and farm in north-east to slaughter and process in the south, leading to some farmers to call for a nationwide ban on transporting live pigs.

With the rapid expansion of pig farms in recent years in China's north-eastern areas and led to an increase in the number of pigs being moved across the country.

Local authorities in Wenzhou have banned the movement of live hogs, related products and animals that are easily infected, the Ministry added.
 

Source: Channel NewsAsia