Thursday, October 11, 2018

China MOA: Liaoning Province Reports ASF In 4th Major City (Dalian)

#13,583


Jumping roughly 200km south of its nearest outbreak (Yingkou City), African Swine Fever has now been reported in the port city of Dalian.  With at least 17 outbreaks, Liaoning Province leads the nation in the number of reported ASF events.

African swine fever epidemic in Dalian, Liaoning Province
 
Date: 2018-10-11 14:29 Author: Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Press Office 

The Information Office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs was released on October 11th, and the pig swine fever in South Africa occurred in Dalian, Liaoning Province.

At 10:00 on October 11, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs received a report from the China Animal Disease Prevention and Control Center. The samples submitted by the Liaoning Provincial Center for Animal Disease Control and Prevention were diagnosed as African by the China Center for Animal Health and Epidemiology (National Center for Animal Disease Research). Swine fever. The positive sample came from a farm in Pulandian District of Dalian City. The farm has 1353 pigs, 20 diseases and 11 deaths.

Immediately after the outbreak, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs sent a steering group to the local area. The local government has started the emergency response mechanism as required, and adopted measures such as blockade, culling, harmless treatment, disinfection, etc., to treat all the sick and culled pigs harmlessly. At the same time, all live pigs and susceptible animals and products are prohibited from entering or leaving the blockade. At present, the above epidemic has been effectively disposed of.

While ASF is not a human health threat, it is a nightmare disease for pig producers - and with no vaccine available - the only way to control it is to cull all of the pigs that may have been exposed.      

We've not seen an outbreak outside of Liaoning Province since Sept 28th, when the MOA Reported Another African Swine Flu Outbreak In Jilin Province.
While ostensibly encouraging news, seven other Chinese provinces and/or territories reported outbreaks in August-September, and we are never entirely sure that we are getting the full story out of China.  
Reporting lull or not, the FAO has warned African Swine Fever (ASF) Is `Here to Stay' In Asia, and that (ASF) threatens to spread from China to other Asian countries.

Meanwhile, the spread of ASF on the Russian and European fronts continue unabated.   Some earlier blogs include:

McKenna On African Swine Fever
OIE: Moldova Reports 1st Incidence Of African Swine Fever (Wild Boar)
Russia: Rosselkhoznadzor Tracing ASF Contaminated Meat Products
UK: DEFRA Preliminary Assessment Of ASF Reported In Belgium