November 9, 2020

Illegally transported pigs blamed for most of China's ASF cases

A large number of African swine fever cases in China this year has been blamed on illegally transported pigs infected with the disease.

So far, this year, six ASF outbreaks in the country have been reported to the OIE, with the most recent event occurring in October.

Highway checkpoints to monitor animal health have also found illegal movements of pigs involving 583 susceptible animals. All of these incidences occurred in the Sichuan province.

In addition to the cases reported to the OIE, China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has released several outbreak reports involving the illegal transport of a total of 1,151 pigs. Most often these pigs are transported from outside Sichuan in which the vehicle was found.

On April 2, an outbreak was recorded in a cooperative in the province of Gansu. In early March, the cooperative illegally transferred 112 piglets from other provinces. On the same day, ASF was detected in a vehicle illegally transferring 110 live piglets. Also, in Gansu, ASF was found in 320 pigs and breeding stock in illegal transport on April 12.

Similar cases of ASF found in illegally transported batches of pigs were found in Sichuan. On April 5, an infected batch of 298 piglets from a farm in Guizhou Province was discovered. On July 24 (24 pigs) and October 9 (70 piglets) infected animals were found in transport.

On March 30, in the Autonomous Region of Inner Mongolia, 200 piglets found to have ASF were discovered in illegal transportation. Similarly, on April 17, in the Jiangsu Province, 17 infected pigs were found.

- Pig333 / OIE / Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (China)