Ningxia Becomes China's 25th Province/Territory Reporting ASF - Taiwan Finds More Contaminated Food Products

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Even with concerns over whether we are getting a full accounting of all of their African Swine Fever outbreaks (see yesterday's ASF Positive Pig Carcass Found On Matsu Island Beach), China's MOA has announced the 25th Province and/or territory to report an outbreak of the devastating pig disease since early August.

African swine fever epidemic occurred in Yongning County, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region
 
Date: 2019-01-20 12:09 Author: Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Press Office [

The Information Office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs was released on January 20, and an African swine fever epidemic occurred in Yongning County, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

At 2300 on January 19, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs received a report from the China Animal Disease Prevention and Control Center. The Chinese Academy of Animal Health and Epidemiology confirmed that a pig swine outbreak occurred in a farmer in Wangyuan Town, Yongning County, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

Up to now, the farmer has 57 pigs, 26 diseases and 13 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 according to the requirements, 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 we've seen only 5 ASF outbreak reports filed by the MOA since the start of the year (down from 15 during the month of December), the number of ASF virus contaminated food products being brought into Taiwan by travelers from the Mainland has actually increased.

Continued monitoring at the border, 2 cases of African swine fever virus genes were detected from pork products in mainland China

The Animal and Plant Epidemic and Quarantine Bureau of the Executive Yuan Agricultural Committee said today (20) that two cases of African swine fever virus genes were detected in pork products in mainland China. 

This is the 13th and 14th case positive cases. The first 12 cases are respectively 107. 1 case on October 31, November 13 and November 30, 2 cases on December 12, December 20, December 21, and January 3, 1 each, January 5 2 cases, 2 cases on January 10th.

The Anti-Inspection Bureau said that the 2 cases were collected from the abandoned boxes on January 13 by the Songshan Airport Quarantine Station of the Keelung Branch of the Bureau. They are all sausages produced in Jiangsu Province of China. The meat has been destroyed after being sampled. The two samples were sent to the Navy on the 17th, and were confirmed by the Animal Husbandry Institute. The sequence of the gene fragment was 100% similar to the genetic fragment of the African swine fever virus strain in mainland China, indicating that the passengers carried pork from mainland China. When products return to China, the risk of spreading African swine fever is extremely high.

The Anti-Inspection Bureau finally said that the case of passengers carrying illegal meat violations was counted on the December 18, 2007, after the increase in the amount of the penalty, and on January 19, 108, the national penalty of 200,000 yuan was 63. 130 yuan for 30,000 yuan and 20 yuan for 10,000 yuan. The statistics are updated daily on the website of the Anti-inspection Bureau's website. The Anti-inspection Bureau once again reminded the public that the annual festival is approaching. Traveling abroad should not bring animal and plant products into the country, especially meat, and do not send foreign meat products to Taiwan for online purchase. Offenders will be severely punished. In addition, we also ask the people to help inform relatives and friends returning from abroad, and do not bring meat and animal products back to the country to avoid punishment.

Similarly, we've seen reports of the interdiction of ASF contaminated food items in Japan, South Korea, and Australia.

While ASF contaminated food products pose no health risk to humans, they can help spread the virus to new regions, where they may make their way into either commercial or wild pigs.

Previously we've seen the  FAO describe how easily ASF can cross borders, and even oceans.

A robust virus with a long life

The ASF virus is very hardy and can survive long periods in very cold and very hot weather, and even in dried or cured pork products. The strain detected in China is similar to one that infected pigs in eastern Russia in 2017 but, so far, and while the investigations continue, the China Animal Health and Epidemiology Center has found no conclusive evidence of this latest outbreak's source or linkages.

"The movement of pig products can spread diseases quickly and, as in this case of African Swine Fever, it's likely that the movement of such products, rather than live pigs, has caused the spread of the virus to other parts of China," explained Juan Lubroth, FAO's Chief Veterinarian.

The Chinese New Year's holiday is now under way - which marks the largest annual human migration on the planet involving as many as 2 billion passenger trips across Asia - and with it come worries over the further spread of the virus from the shipment and/or transport of ASF contaminated food items.

A scenario warned about six months ago by the FAO: African swine fever (ASF) threatens to spread from China to other Asian countries.