China MOA Reports Two More (Small) African Swine Fever Outbreaks

#14,101

Relaying the official reports from China's MOA on their African Swine Fever crisis feels - admittedly - like I'm compounding a felony, as these reports almost certainly only tell us a small fraction of the story.

Whether this is by design - as has been charged by some - or due to local reluctance to report `bad news' up the chain of command to Beijing, is impossible to say.  But I'd wager it is a bit of both.

We've seen persistent rumors (Google search `死猪') and media reports (see Reuters report Piles of pigs: Swine fever outbreaks go unreported in rural China) - along with repeated discoveries of ASF-Positive Pig Carcasses floating off the Chinese Mainland coast - that suggest the situation there is much worse than reported.

Although the videos turning up on YouTube are often impossible to verify, many of them are difficult to dispute.  Dead pigs floating in lakes, rivers, and streams. Dumped by roadsides, etc.

A particularly horrific one was highlighted yesterday by an ABC (Australian Broadcasting Company) report, which appears to show thousands of pigs being buried alive (see China struggles to contain African swine fever, resorts to mass live-pig burials, millions of culls).

The latest FAO ASF Report - dated May 30th - has China reporting:

Since the China Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) confirmed its first African swine fever (ASF) outbreak in Liaoning Province on 3 August 2018, 136 ASF outbreaks detected in 32 Provinces/Autonomous Regions/Municipalities/Special Administrative Region. 1,129,000 pigs have been culled in an effort to halt further spread.

But other industry estimates put China's losses more than 100 times greater.  A Rabobank Research report released in April estimated that between 150-200 million Chinese pigs had already been lost to ASF, and that China's pig production would drop 30% in 2019.

Other estimates (see ASF China: Global agribusiness suffers; estimates vary) propose even greater losses, perhaps exceeding 50%.

All of which makes these once or twice weekly MOA reports of a few dozen pigs lost to the virus a bit hard to take seriously.   

African swine fever epidemic in Menghai County, Yunnan Province

Date: 2019-05-29 18:54 Author: Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Press Office 

The Information Office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs was released on May 29, and an African swine fever epidemic occurred in Menghai County, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province.

On May 29, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs received a report from the China Animal Disease Prevention and Control Center, which was diagnosed by the Yunnan Provincial Center for Animal Disease Control and Prevention. The pigs raised in the villages of Gelang and the townships in Menghai County, Xishuangbanna, suffered from African swine fever. Up to now, the relevant farmers have stored 80 pigs, 37 diseases and 12 deaths.

Immediately after the outbreak, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs dispatched a steering group to guide local disposal work. 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 dead pigs 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.

Duyun City, Guizhou Province, illegally transported into pigs in the provinces of the province to detect African swine fever
 
Date: 2019-05-31 17:56 Author: Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Press Office 

The Information Office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs was released on May 31, and the city of Duyun, Qiannan Prefecture, Guizhou Province, illegally transported into the pigs in the province to detect the African swine fever.

On May 31, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs received a report from the China Animal Disease Prevention and Control Center. In the southern part of the country, the South China Sea intercepted an illegal traffic-clearing vehicle 10 kilometers away from the Duyun South exit. 

There were 32 pigs on the car. 1 head, 1 death. It was diagnosed by the Guizhou Provincial Animal Disease Prevention and Control Center and the African swine fever was detected from the pigs contained in the vehicle. According to preliminary investigations, the batch of pigs were purchased by the shippers from other provinces and illegally transported into Guizhou.

After the outbreak, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs immediately directed local investigations on epidemic situation supervision and epidemiological investigation. The local government has started the emergency response mechanism according to the requirements, culling and harmless treatment of the pigs in the same vehicle, comprehensively cleaning and disinfecting the vehicles, and comprehensively inspecting and disinfecting the road sections involved. At present, the above measures have been implemented, and the local public security department has already controlled the personnel involved.

Meanwhile, the FAO is reporting the following summaries from China's neighbors.

Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
The Ministry of Agriculture, Anti-Epizootic Department confirmed its first ASF outbreak in Chagang-Do occurred on 23 May 2019. 77 of 99 pigs in the Buksang cooperative farm, Ri, Usi County, became sick and died from the disease [refrence].

Mongolia

Since its first report on 15 January 2019, 11 outbreaks in 6 provinces and in Ulaanbaatar have been reported, involving 105 farms/households. More than 3,115 pigs, more than 10 percent of the total pig population in Mongolia, have died/been destroyed due to the ASF outbreaks.

Viet Nam
Since the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) confirmed its ASF outbreaks on 19 February 2019, a total of 45 provinces/cities reported outbreaks, more than 1,700,000 pigs have been culled.

Cambodia
Since the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries confirmed its first ASF outbreak in Som Kaninh village, Som Thom commune, O Ya Dav District, Ratanakiri Province on 2 April 2019, more than 2400 pigs have died or been culled.