A Small Correction: There is actual one province still officially unaffected in China; Hainan. A small (13,097 sq mi) island off the south coast. Once a part of Guangdong Province, it became its own entity in 1998. If you squint, you can probably make it out on the map above.
#13,988
Tibet's Autonomous Region becomes the last previously ASF-free Mainland Chinese Province or Territory to report African Swine Fever, just three days after the 1st ASF Outbreak In Xinjiang Uygur was announced.
It has taken just over 8 months, since the first announced detection in August of 2018, to spread to all of China's Provinces.While we are seeing an uptick in ASF reports from China over the past week - at least compared to the the last few months - there remain serious questions over the completeness of their surveillance and reporting.
The location of today's reported outbreaks are also a concern, as they are only about 50km from Tibet's border with India (Arunachal Pradesh), and is moving uncomfortably close to China's borders with Nepal, Bhutan, and Myanmar.
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| Nyingchi Location in Tibet - Credit Wikipedia |
While details are scant, at least two locations in the Nyingchi District of Tibet have been affected.
African swine fever epidemic in Nyingchi City, Tibet Autonomous Region
Date: 2019-04-07 19:47 Author: Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Press Office
The Information Office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs was released on April 7, and an African swine fever epidemic occurred in Linzhi City, Tibet Autonomous Region.
Confirmed by the China Center for Animal Health and Epidemiology, the African swine fever epidemic occurred in the Bayi District, Gongbu Jiangda County and Bomi County of Linzhi City. Up to now, a total of 55 live pigs have been killed in the above epidemic.
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.
The FAO released their weekly ASF update a few hours ago, before this latest announcement, and their latest map shows the spread of this porcine disease across China and into Southeast Asia.
While ASF doesn't pose a direct threat to human health, its continued spread in Asia and Eastern Europe poses an existential threat to their pork industry, as the virus is often 100% fatal in pigs, and no vaccine is currently available.
The recent spread of the virus into Mongolia, Vietnam, and most recently Cambodia validate the stark warnings issued by the FAO last August (see FAO: African swine fever (ASF) threatens to spread from China to other Asian countries).Given the lack of success over the last decade in controlling this virus in Eastern Europe and Russia (see UK: DEFRA Update #20 On ASF In Central & Eastern Europe), the prospects for containing it in Asia are not looking particularly good.
