Philippines confirm African swine fever

The authorities in the Philippines confirm that African swine fever has been found. Meanwhile, the government in Vietnam says the country is reportedly facing a shortage of 500.000 tons of pork.

The Ministry of Agriculture in the Philippines released mid-August announced that it would have an investigation carried out into the sharply increased number of dead pigs in the region around Manila. It now appears that the animals are infected with African swine fever. The study shows that 14 of the 20 animals have tested positive for the virus. Authorities in the country report that 7.416 pigs within a 1 kilometer radius of the affected areas have been culled.

The Philippine ministry thinks that the animal disease through food scraps or waste from restaurants or hotels to backyard farms (small-scale, unregistered pig farms). That is why, among other things, the measures for the transport of meat products and live animals have been tightened.

Asia succumbs to virus
The Philippines is the ninth country in Asia where African swine fever has been found. China, North Korea, Mongolia, Laos, the Asian part of Russia, Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam also succumbed to the virus. The latter country has also reported that (as a result of the outbreaks) it will reportedly face a pork shortage of 500.000 tons before the end of this year.

More than 4 million pigs have now been culled in Vietnam due to the animal disease. As a result, pork production has fallen sharply and the country now has to enter the world market for pork. This ensures that pork prices in the country, as in China, rising rapidly. At the moment, prices are around 47.000 to 50.000 Vietnamese dong per kilo (€1,83 to €1,95 per kilo).

Chinese pig herd
Several analysts have calculated that China's pig and sow herds have fallen by 32% since July last year, as a result of the African swine fever outbreaks. If this percentage is converted into pigs, this would mean a decrease of 140 million pigs. Of these, 60 million pigs have been culled in the past 5 months. In comparison, the decrease in the number of pigs in China is almost equal to the total European pig herd.

Kimberly Baker

Kimberly Bakker is an all-round editor at Boerenbusiness. She also has an eye for the social media channels of Boerenbusiness.

k.baker @boerenbusiness. Nl

© DCA Market Intelligence. This market information is subject to copyright. It is not permitted to reproduce, distribute, disseminate or make the content available to third parties for compensation, in any form, without the express written permission of DCA Market Intelligence.