China reports biggest pig farm affected by African swine fever

The recent outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) in China has hit a farm with close to 20,000 pigs - the biggest farm in the country to be impacted by the disease, Reuters reported.

On October 15, China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs announced the new case, which was said to have occurred in northeast Liaoning province and was one of three new cases of ASF in the region.

The affected farm was revealed to have 19,938-head of pigs and was located in Jinzhou city. 221 pigs were reported to have died, although the identities of the farm and its owner remain unknown.

Farms that are owned by large companies are usually considered to have better biosecurity than smaller Chinese farms. However, that assumption has now given way to the fact that the ASF situation in China has become "more serious," said Yao Guiling, an analyst with consultancy China-America Commodity Data Analytics.

"Big companies usually have better biosecurity measures. (The new outbreak) highlights the difficulty in controlling the disease. Companies will probably rethink or slow their output expansion plans," Yao added.

Other recent ASF cases happened in Panjin city and included a farm, which had 1,571 pigs, with 109 reported dead, and a smaller farm with 129 out of its 270 pigs killed by the disease. 

In the meantime, pig prices have dropped in China's northeast, as farmers could not transport herds out of infected provinces. Prices in the south, on the hand, have spiked.

- Reuters