Avian Flu Diary: China MOA: Shanxi, Hunan & Yunnan Province Report New Outbreaks Of ASF

#13,635

Reports of African Swine Fever continue to come in to China's Ministry of Agriculture, with the southern provinces of Yunnan and Hunan, and Shanxi province in the north, all reporting new outbreaks today.

As noted on Sunday, there have been some delays in confirming and reporting outbreaks from Hunan province, which is a concern as it is one of China's biggest pork producers.

While reports have (at least temporarily) ceased from some of the earliest hit provinces, ASF has spread to 4 new provinces over the past 14 days (Shanxi, Yunnan, Hunan & Guizhou), suggesting the virus is more widespread than is currently being reported.

Yangqu County, Shanxi Province, Fuling County, Hunan Province, and Simao District, Pu'er City, Yunnan Province
Each occurrence of an African swine fever

Date: 2018-10-30 17:43 Author: Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Press Office

The Information Office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs was released on October 30, and an African swine fever epidemic occurred in Yangqu County of Shanxi Province, Fuling County of Hunan Province and Simao District of Pu'er City of Yunnan Province.

At 12 o'clock on October 30, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Areas received a report from the China Animal Disease Prevention and Control Center and was diagnosed by the China Center for Animal Health and Epidemiology (National Center for Animal Disease Research), a farmer in Yangqu County, Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province. A farmer in Fuling County, Huaihua City, Hunan Province, and a farmer in Simao District, Pu'er City, Yunnan Province, each had an African swine fever epidemic.

Up to now, there are 210 live pigs in Yangqu County, Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, with 75 heads and 47 deaths.

There are 144 live pigs in Fuling County, Huaihua City, Hunan Province, with 25 diseases and 22 deaths;

Pu'er County, Yunnan Province There are 36 pigs in the city of Simao District, with 5 heads and 1 death.

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 pigs and their products are prohibited from being transferred out of the blockade, and pigs are prohibited from being transported into the blockade. At present, the above epidemic has been effectively disposed of.

While ASF doesn't pose a health risk to humans, it is a serious threat to the pig industry - and with no vaccine available - the only way to control it is to cull all of the pigs that may have been exposed.

Meanwhile, ASF continues to make inroads in Europe as well, and further spread seems inevitable (see FAO: African swine fever (ASF) threatens to spread from China to other Asian countries).