News African swine fever
South Korea kills 47.000 pigs due to swine fever
Authorities in South Korea culled 47.000 pigs over the weekend due to African swine fever. This massive culling action produced some hesitant images. The animal disease is also spreading rapidly in other Asian countries.
In South Korea, 47.000 pigs were culled as a preventive measure this weekend, near the border with North Korea. In this way it hopes to prevent further spread. However, because the authorities no longer have plastic containers to bury the culled pigs in, blood has spilled into a nearby river, various media reported. It is the seventh largest river in Korea and the population now fears that the animal disease could quickly spread to other provinces.
The authorities rejected that notion, saying the culled pigs had been disinfected before being slaughtered. Measures have also been taken to prevent further pollution of the river. The virus became mid September discovered in South Korea and 13 cases have been reported so far.
More outbreaks in Asia
Several outbreaks of African swine fever have been reported in the interior of China in recent weeks. However, it did not report those outbreaks to the animal health organization OIE. The last outbreak reported was on November 10. Then infected pigs were found in a truck. The number of official outbreaks now stands at 163, but is believed to be much higher in reality.
New cases of African swine fever have also been found in Vietnam over the past period. To date, 19 of the 63 provinces have culled more than 100.000 pigs as a result of this disease. Ha Noi is at the top. More than 541.000 have been culled in that region since the first outbreak. Another case of African swine fever has also been found in Taiwan. The total number is now at 12.
Declining imports in the Philippines
Over the first 9 months of the year, the Philippines imported 254.890 tons of pork. This is 8,5% less than last year in the same period. According to analysts from Bureau of Animal Industry, this is partly due to the high prices on the world market as a result of African swine fever in China. Prices are expected to remain at a high level for the time being.
Read all about African swine fever here.
Kimberly Baker
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