ASF update: China reports 5th case
A 5th case of African Swine Fever has been reported in China. This time a small farm in Anhui province was found to be infected.
Press agency Reuters reported on the outbreak, on the basis of a statement of the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. The outbreak was discovered on a farm with 185 pigs. According to Reuters, the outbreak killed 80 of 459 hogs on a farm in Nanling County in Wuhu City, with the remaining 379 culled. The location is 350 km west of Shanghai.
Why Asia has to fear ASF – 20 reasons. Read the expert opinion
Transport of hogs and pig products
As it happened with previous outbreaks, transport of hogs and related products have been banned in the affected area, Reuters reported.
In total, now 25,000 pigs have been culled in an attempt to fight the disease. The 1st outbreak was found in Liaoning province on 1 August. So far every reported outbreak was from a different province in China. For a detailed overview of the outbreaks, see map.
Not ruling out new ASF outbreaks
China’s agriculture ministry said on Wednesday it could not rule out the possibility of new outbreaks. At a meeting, US agriculture secretary Sonny Perdue said that China is possibly underreporting the outbreaks.
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The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) stated that its rapid spread may be caused by transport of pig products, rather than live pigs.
It looks like the virus was imported from Russia. China has been sourcing pork from various countries in the surrounding area, since imports from e.g. United States has become increasingly expensive due to the trade dispute.
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