News African swine fever
'African swine fever is not going to be an epidemic'
Feng Zhongwu, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture, is convinced that African swine fever will not become an epidemic. The country is going to tighten the rules to prevent further spread.
China has been battling African swine fever since the beginning of August and so far the country has no control over the situation. That is why the country has now announced stricter measures and, according to Feng Zhongwu, they should ensure that it does not lead to an epidemic.
According to the ministry, the new measures will make it possible to slaughter pigs in the infected areas, limiting the transport of live pigs as much as possible. China will also improve the supervision of pig farmers.
Fast spread
African swine fever has now been discovered at 80 farms. According to the spokesperson, 600.000 pigs have now been culled. However, that is less than 1% of the total pig population. Chinese pig farmers are increasingly concerned about the situation.
Almost every day there are new notifications of outbreaks. The first outbreak was identified in the capital last week and the outbreaks are affecting both large and small businesses. For example, farms with more than 20.000 pigs were culled, while in November there was also an infection at a 'back-yard farm' with only 1 pig.
Falling confidence
Chinese companies are starting to lose faith in pork. For example, Xiamen Airlines announced that pork will no longer be served on their flights. This airline is 1,5 times the size of KLM and is owned by the Chinese state. However, this regulation was short-lived, as it has since withdrawn the measure.
Although further spread cannot be prevented for the time being, Feng is convinced that the disease will not turn into an epidemic. This is perhaps against better judgment, because the animal disease has spread throughout the country in a few months. It has also been found in meat, suggesting more undetected outbreaks.
The virus was recently also found in a dead wild boar. This indicates that there are even more wild boars that carry the virus.
Tim Roetman
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