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Since August 1st, 20 of China's 34 provincial-level administrative units (i.e. provinces, municipal cities, Autonomous regions, & SARs) have reported African Swine Fever - including several of the large pork producing provinces in the south - which has prompted a number of dire warnings from the FAO, and a robust response from China's MOA.
FAO: African Swine Fever (ASF) `Here to Stay' In Asia
African swine fever (ASF) threatens to spread from China to other Asian countries
MOA Joint Statement On `Very Serious' Spread Of ASF
China MOA: Special Measures To Limit Spread Of African Swine FeverLast Friday in China MOA: ASF Reaches Beijing, we saw the virus reach to within a few miles of China's Capital city. As this is a limited pork producing region, this likely inflicted more of a psychological blow, than an economic one.
Yesterday - emphasizing the seriousness of the situation - the MOA announced that one of their 12 Deputy Directors of the MOA - Yu Kangzhen - would go to Beijing to directly supervise the response to that outbreak.
(translation)
Yu Kangzhen, deputy director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, went to Beijing to supervise the prevention and control of African swine fever
Adhere to the prevention and control of epidemic diseases and production and supply, and resolutely prevent the spread of the epidemic
Date: 2018-11-25 16:49 Author: Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Press Office
On November 23-24, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Yu Kangzhen went to Putian City, Fujian Province, and Fangshan District of Beijing to supervise the prevention and control of African swine fever and organized a symposium to conduct work on the prevention and control of African swine fever. Redeploy and reschedule. He stressed that it is necessary to make overall plans and balance, adhere to the prevention and control of epidemic diseases and production and supply, strengthen the implementation of responsibilities, and implement strict measures to resolutely prevent the spread of the epidemic.
Yu Kangzhen fully affirmed the rapid and decisive disposal of the epidemic situation in Beijing, comprehensive monitoring and traceability, traceability tracking, and supervision of pig transportation. He stressed that it is necessary to improve the political position, fully understand the importance, complexity and long-term nature of the current prevention and control of pigs in Africa, and unify the ideas into the central decision-making and deployment, so that the organization is in place.
(Continue . . . )
Meanwhile, Hubei Province - which only reported its first outbreak on November 7th - reports their 4th outbreak today.
(translation)
Yangxin County, Hubei Province, detected the African swine fever epidemic
Date: 2018-11-26 11:23 Author: Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Press Office
The Information Office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs was released on November 25, and Yangxin County, Huangshi City, Hubei Province, detected the African swine fever epidemic.
At 14:00 on November 25, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs 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 Yangxin County, Huangshi City, Hubei Province African swine fever. Up to now, the farmer has kept 63 pigs, 9 diseases and 5 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 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 measures have been implemented.
While not a human health risk, African Swine Fever represents a serious threat to the pork industry, local economies, and even to food security for some nations.
ASF has never been reported in North America, but the potential exists for its importation - such as we saw with the arrival of PEDV five years ago - which is believed to have arrived from China (see mBio: PEDV - Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus – An Emerging Coronavirus).The USDA has released a new African Swine Fever Factsheet that discusses their preparations for a possible introduction of the virus into this country.
(Excerpt)
Keeping ASF Out
Because of the concern over ASF, USDA recently reviewed and further strengthened its longstanding stringent protections against the spread of the disease.These include:
• Collaborating with states, industry and producers to ensure everyone follows on-farm biosecurity and best practices (including for garbage feeding in states where that is allowed);Preparing to Respond If Needed
• Restricting imports of pork and pork products from affected countries; and
• Working with CBP staff at ports of entry to increase passenger and baggage screening for prohibited products from affected countries.
Although prevention is the goal, USDA is also actively readying and planning its response, should ASF be detected. USDA has an existing emergency response plan for ASF and we update and adjust it based on current epidemiological information to ensure it remains as strong and effective as possible.
USDA is increasing the testing capacity of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network labs for ASF. This will ensure diagnostic testing occurs quickly and accurately, so that we can respond rapidly if ASF is detected. It will also support disease monitoring efforts following an outbreak, should one occur.
Because ASF spreads rapidly and can kill very quickly, fast detection is key to preventing disease spread and limiting the scope of an outbreak. It is essential that sick pigs showing potential signs of ASF are reported to state or federal animal health officials immediately for appropriate testing.
Limiting an outbreak is important for many reasons, but the most important one being that is reduces the number of producers who are directly affected. Any finding of ASF will impact international trade and the swine industry, but the sooner the disease is contained and controlled, the sooner we can work together to return to business as usual.(Continue . . . )
