‘Very serious’: African swine fever spreads in China

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SHANGHAI, Nov 15, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – African swine fever has spread rapidly
to more than half of China’s provinces despite measures to contain it, the
government said, warning that a situation previously described as under
control had become “very serious.”

The disease has already caused a spike in pork prices in China since first
emerging in August, and fuelled growing fears of a major impact on the
world’s largest pig producer.

“The African swine fever prevention and control situation is very
serious,” said a joint statement by the ministries of agriculture, transport,
and public security that was posted late Wednesday.

“The epidemic has appeared in 17 provinces, spreading to large pig-farming
provinces in southern China.”

In early September government-controlled media said African swine fever
had been discovered in just five provinces, with the agriculture ministry
saying at the time that the virus was “generally under control.”

The three ministries called for strengthened supervision of the transport
of live pigs to prevent the disease spreading further.

China reported its first case in August in northeastern Liaoning province.

Since then, the disease has steadily moved south into major pork-producing
provinces despite efforts to contain it, including by culling tens of
thousands of pigs.

The ministries blamed the spread on the flouting of restrictions imposed
on moving pigs out of affected areas.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned in August that the
disease could spread to other parts of Asia.

African swine fever is not harmful to humans but causes deadly
haemorrhagic fever in domesticated pigs and wild boar.

With no antidote or vaccine, the only known control method is to cull
animals.

Around half of the world’s pigs are raised in China, and Chinese are the
planet’s biggest per capita consumers of pork, according to the FAO.