September 4, 2018

China's 6th African swine fever outbreak in Xuancheng city

An outbreak of African swine fever, believed to be China's sixth since Aug. 3, has been confirmed in the city of Xuancheng in eastern China's Anhui Province, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said on Monday, Sept. 3, Xinhua reports.

Xuancheng is also in Anhui, where the fifth ASF case was reported on Aug. 30 in Wuhu city.

On the affected farm in the Xuanzhou district of Xuancheng city, 152 of its 308 pigs were infected and 83 died, the ministry said, citing a report from the China Animal Disease Control Center.

The ministry said the outbreak was under effective control after local authorities imposed emergency measures such as to blocking, culling and disinfecting the affected pigs.

As of Saturday, Sept. 1, over 38,000 pigs have been culled nationwide since the first outbreak in Liaoning Province, ministry spokesman Guang Defu said on Sunday as per Xinhua.

ASF causes haemorrhagic fever in pigs that almost always ends in death within a few days.