ASF Vietnam: 2mln pigs culled; N-Korea reports outbreak

News agency Reuters reported that officials had said the 2 million pig mark has been hit in an attempt to control the outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) in the country. The virus had spread to 48 provinces, agriculture minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong said at a meeting of parliament – a number that is corroborated by outbreaks reported to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).

In the latest update of this Friday, 4 new provinces reported outbreaks of the virus. That included the largest city of central Vietnam, Da Nang, and the country’s southernmost province, Ca Mau. In the interactive map above, this week’s outbreak have been given a purple colour.

In Vietnam, no movement from infected provinces is allowed. In addition, a compensation is offered of 80% for piglets and finishing pigs and 1.5-2 times the normal compensation rate for sows or boars.

ASF outbreaks elsewhere in Asia

In the meantime, also other Asian countries continue to report outbreaks, most notably North Korea this week. A few weeks ago, already strong rumours came from the country that ASF had entered, now the country sent a report tot he OIE about an outbreak on one cooperative farm in Chagang-Do, at roughly 15 km south of the border with China. The farm had 99 pigs, of which 22 had died.

The confirmation of the outbreak in North Korea means that South Korea is increasing its level of preparedness. According to press agency Reuters, South Korea will boost disinfection measures in areas near the shared border to prevent the virus from spreading to its pig herd.

In China, various outbreaks have been reported this week, notably in southern Yunnan, Guangxi and Guizhou provinces. It is generally believed that the outbreak situation in China is much worse than is being reported.

Read more on pig health in the Pig Progress Health Tool

US bank: Outbreaks offer perspective

The outbreaks in China and Vietnam offer perspectives for US pork producers and feed sectors. That was the message from CoBank, which recently published a new report on ASF-related problems.

The bank does warn, however, that “a continuation of the trade dispute and other market variables currently in play could affect the degree to which US agriculture is impacted by the pork shortage in China and South East Asia.”