Avian Flu Diary: China MOA: Heilongjiang Province Announces New Outbreaks Of ASF

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Heilongjiang, China's northernmost province, reported their first African Swine Fever outbreak on September 5th in Changqing Township, a suburb of Jiamusi City.

Three weeks earlier Heilongjiang had been implicated as the source of ASF infected pigs shipped to a slaughterhouse in Henan Province (see China MOA Confirms 2nd Outbreak Of African Swine Fever - Henan ex Heilongjiang Province).

A second outbreak was reported in Heilongjiang on September 6th - but in the 10 weeks since then we've heard of no further reports.

Today, however, we've a report from the MOA of two farms hit in Harbin - the provincial capital - roughly 300 km west of the last outbreak in Jiamusi City.

Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, Daowai District, the detection of African swine fever

Date: 2018-11-19 16:12 Author: Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Press Office

The Information Office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs released on November 19th, and the out-of-town area of Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, detected the African swine fever epidemic.

At 14:00 on November 19, 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 Diseases Research).

Two farmers in the Daowai District identified African swine fever. epidemic. Up to now, two farmers have co-existed 900 pigs, 269 cases and 269 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.

With at least 70 outbreaks reported across 19 administrative districts since August 1st, the African Swine Fever virus appears to be well entrenched in China's pig industry, and last week was detected in a wild boar in Jilin Province.

Contaminated transport vehicles, illegal shipment of pigs from contaminated regions, the feeding of `swill' to pigs, and even contaminated commercial feed have all been proffered as reasons for its spread, but the exact mechanism behind ASF's unprecedented territorial gains remain unknown.

Nor are we entirely certain of how rigorous surveillance and reporting of ASF outbreaks really are from some of the more rural areas of China.

As we discussed last week in MOA Joint Statement On `Very Serious' Spread Of ASF, this unprecedented spread of African Swine Fever risks turning into a genuine national security issue for China, and the MOA and the Ministry of Public Security are adopting a hard line stance on enforcement of biosecurity rules and regulations.

But whether any of these steps can slow this virus - which as has spread across much of Eastern Europe & Russia over the past decade - remains to be seen. For their part, the FAO does not appear to be particularly hopeful.