News African swine fever
China comes up with plan for pig herd recovery
China has announced a plan to rebuild the production capacity of the domestic pig herd. The government will make subsidies available for the construction of new large-scale modern companies. The aim is to have the pig herd grow again by 3% within 80 years.
Despite Chinese media reports suggesting recovery is underway, current estimates are projecting a recovery of at least 3 years. The recovery does not immediately mean that the situation will return to normal before African swine fever struck. China had an extraordinary number of small-scale companies. The plan is precisely to close many smaller companies. The idea is that larger companies at a greater distance from each other help to keep swine fever at bay.
Pig stock in China
The pig herd in China has fallen sharply in the past year. In 2019, 540 million pigs were produced in China. The number has shrunk by 150 million compared to 2018. Pork production was 45,55 million last year. Compared to 2018, the amount has decreased by 21,3%. This is according to the official data released by the Chinese static bureau on January 17. The reason for this large decrease was - of course - the African swine fever (ASF).
The ASF has wiped out more than half of China's pig population in just one year. The virus is now spreading through Asia, with a quarter of the pig herd already lost in Vietnam. By the end of last year, the ASF outbreak has resulted in the loss of more than a quarter of the global pig population.
Recent AVP infections
In addition to the countries that have been struggling with ASF infections for some time, new cases of infection have also recently been discovered. The virus has also made its appearance in Greece. Last week, the Greek government announced that an ASF infection had been detected at a small family business in northern Greece.
An outbreak of ASF has probably also been detected in Bali. Nearly 1.000 pigs have died in the past two months. The head of agricultural and food safety reported that this is probably due to an outbreak of the ASF virus.
The Netherlands
The price for meat from the Netherlands has risen recently due to the outbreaks of the virus in China and Asia. In this way, the Dutch pig farmer benefits from the ASF outbreak. However, the fear of an outbreak in the Netherlands and neighboring Germany is great.
If a company is affected by the AVP, this has major consequences. The animals must be culled. The consequences are also significant for exports. Many countries do not want meat from countries or regions where there is ASF. To prevent an outbreak, good hygiene is checked. But the greatest danger lies in possible contamination among wild boars.
Chanti Oussoren
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