November 7, 2019

More than 60 African swine fever (ASF) cases have been reported by Russian authorities among wild and domestic swine along the border with China, reported Bloomberg.

Dirk Pfeiffer, professor of veterinary medicine and life sciences at City University of Hong Kong said wild boar is playing a key role in spreading ASF across borders. While east Russia has only 2% of the country’s swine herd, the spread of ASF there is making it difficult to manage the outbreak in both China and Russia.

Andriy Rozstalnyy, animal health officer with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Rome said ASF is hard to control among wild and domesticated swine, adding that the smuggling of ASF-infected pork products, backyard pig farming and semi-subsistence hunting are factors that contribute in the spread of ASF.

In September 2019, a Chinese citizen had tried to smuggle a sausage meat that was found to be infected with ASF at Zabaykalsk, opposite the Chinese border town of Manzhouli.

One month prior, a Primorsky farm reported a sow and two boars died. Now, 59 ASF outbreaks in Primorsky, Amuyr and Jewish autonomous regions have reported 275 dead swine and 2,473 swine killed and disposed. This was from data provided by Russian authorities to the World Organisation of Animal Health in Paris.

Denis Kolbasov, director of the Federal Research Center of Virology and Microbiology in Polkov, Russia said it is difficult to identify the source of an ASF outbreak. Genetic studies conducted on ASF in China have discovered similarities to Eastern Europe and Russian ASF strains, which may be the possible source. 

N 2017, a pan-Russian strain of ASF caused an outbreak in Siberia, close to the China border. This was the furthest east from Russia that ASF was last reported.

Even with ASF, Russia-China ties are unlikely to strain as both countries are currently prioritising food security because of the outbreak.

-      Bloomberg