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| CREDIT - BAPHIQ |
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The island of Taiwan sits between 60 and 90 miles off the Chinese mainland, but the ROC exercises political control over several groups of islands (Kinmen, Wuqiu & Matsu) that lie much closer to the mainland.
Over the past 6 months, Taiwan's coast guard has intercepted dozens of `sea drift' pigs (see here, here, here, and here); carcasses found either floating in the water or washed up on beaches, presumably dumped into rivers on the mainland.
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| Photo Credit BAPHIQ |
While not all of them have tested positive for African Swine Fever, many of them have, and they are always treated as a HAZMAT cleanup (see photo above), and usually burned and buried on the spot.
This weekend Taiwan is reporting their 9th and 10th ASF-positive Sea Drift carcass recovery since December, all of which likely originated in Fujian province.Fujian Province, however, hasn't officially reported an outbreak of African Swine Fever since December 24th, 2018 and China's MOA officially lifted their blockade on the movement of pigs on February 6th.
As noted previously in this blog (see here, here, and here), China's farmers have - on occasion - resorted to the clandestine dumping of diseased livestock into rivers and lakes rather than reporting outbreaks to local officials.
Most famously, in 2013 - in Shanghai Govt.: Thousands Of Dead Pigs Retrieved From River - we saw reports of as many as 3,000 pig carcasses dumped in the Huangpu river - a tributary of the Yangtze - that provides many of the 23 million residents of Shanghai with their drinking water.This report from Taiwan's BAPHIQ (Bureau of Animal Plant Health Inspection & Quarantine):
Mainland China Hailuo Jinmen 2 pigs detected positive for African swine fever virus nucleic acid, and continued to strengthen border control and epidemic prevention measures(Continue . . . )
The Central Hunger Disaster Response Center (Strain Center) of Africa has reported that on the 4th of June, one of the shores of the Cihu Fortress in Jinning Township, Jinmen County, and the shore of Shangyi Beach in Jinhu Town, June 5th. The dead pigs were sampled by the Jinmen County Animal and Plant Epidemic Prevention Institute (Golden Door Epidemic Prevention Institute) and sent to the Animal Health Laboratory of the Agricultural Committee (the Animal Husbandry Institute) for testing.
Today, the detection of African swine fever virus nucleic acid is positive, and the gene fragment is separated from mainland China. The virus strain has a similarity of 100%. According to the geographical location, the two pigs should drift from mainland China. At present, there are 10 cases of positive detection of African swine fever virus nucleic acid in Haipeng pigs (8 cases in Jinmen County and 2 cases in Lianjiang County).
According to the Strain Center, the Golden Gate Epidemic Prevention Station received a notice from the ninth shore patrol team of the Golden Horse Department of the Sea patrol department on June 4 and 5, and found one in each of the banks of the Cihu Fortress in Jinning Township and Shangyi Beach in Jinhu Town. The dead pigs, the rushed to the scene to understand, collect the relevant samples, the pigs were burned and buried on the spot, and the samples were sent to the animal husbandry for inspection.
The relevant samples were detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and the results showed that the African swine fever virus nucleic acid was positive, and the gene fragment sequence was 100% similar to the genetic fragment of the African swine fever virus strain in mainland China. The strain center added that the location of the dead pigs had been completely disinfected by the Golden Gate Epidemic Prevention Station. The two found that there were 4 pig farms within a radius of 3 km, and the clinical examinations were carried out by the veterinarians of the public office. The health condition was good, no abnormal situation, and execution was carried out.
Mobile control and sampling monitoring. In order to ensure the overall safety of the industry, the Jinmen County pigs and their products will be suspended for Taiwan and other outlying islands for at least one week, but the dried pork and pork pine produced by the seven companies that have been checked and passed can still be exported to Taiwan Island and other outlying islands. .
The Strain Center pointed out that Jinmen County is close to the Jiulong River exit of Fujian Province in Fujian Province, and it should be drifted from mainland China. In response to this case, disinfection measures have been carried out for persons, vehicles, equipment and areas in contact with the pig.
According to the Strain Center, in the international and Asian epidemic, 32 countries in Africa and 17 countries in Europe have notified the World Organisation for Animal Health of the African swine fever epidemic; Asia has five outbreaks in China, Mongolia, Vietnam, Cambodia and North Korea. The 32 provinces and municipalities in the country have become infected areas, with 142 cases, Mongolia with 7 provinces and 11 cases, Vietnam with 54 provinces and 2,802 cases, and Cambodia with 1 province and 7 cases, while North Korea has 1 province and 1 case, which will continue to strengthen. The border checks the work.
The Strain Center appeals to the public, although it is suitable for the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, please do not bring meat products into the country, and do not send foreign meat products to Taiwan for online shopping. Offenders will be severely punished. Do not try the law and appeal to relevant domestic players. Self-defense and epidemic prevention, and improve bio-security measures to prevent the occurrence and spread of the epidemic.
The disparity between what we see, and what China officially reports on their ASF crisis, continues to broaden. The most recent FAO report shows China's swine losses as 110,000 head over the past 30 days, bringing their total to 138 outbreaks and 1,133,000 culled.
Over the same 30 day time period, Vietnam reports losing more than 2 million pigs, and over the past 4 months has reported thousands of outbreaks, mostly in small communes.China frequently goes to great lengths to control and downplay `bad news', and often treats the size and scope of disease outbreaks, and agricultural losses, or the death toll from disasters as national security issues.
While the official numbers from the MOA are believed to be unreliable, some experts, and organizations, have come up with estimates of China's ASF losses.
- The FAO's Food Outlook Report - estimated China's losses closer to 20%; roughly 80 to 100 million pigs.
- A Rabobank Research report released in April estimated that between 150-200 million Chinese pigs have already been lost to ASF, and that China's pig production will drop 30% in 2019.
- Other estimates (see ASF China: Global agribusiness suffers; estimates vary) propose even greater losses.
China's agricultural woes don't stop with ASF, as drought continues in several f regions, and half of the nation is in the midst of a massive Fall Armyworm infestation (see below).
The Fall Armyworm (FAW; Spodoptera frugiperda) – a crop-eating pest – first detected in China in January 2019 has now spread across 15 Chinese provinces and currently impacts about 90,000 hectares (1.35 million mu) of grain production.
Officially, Chinese authorities have employed an emergency action plan to monitor and respond to the pest. FAW has no natural predators in China and its presence may result in lower production and crop quality of corn, rice, wheat, sorghum, sugarcane, cotton, soybean and peanuts among other cash crops. Experts report that there is a high probability that the pest will continue to spread across China, reaching the Northeast China corn belt by June 2019. China is the world’s second largest producer of corn.
China: Update: Fall Armyworm Now in 15 of China’s Provinces
As we've discussed previously, food insecurity - whether due to
agricultural diseases, floods, droughts, pests, or other causes - can bring on severe societal challenges (see Iran: Bird Flu, Food Insecurity & Civil Unrest).
All of which makes the seemingly uncontrollable spread of ASF around the globe more than just a problem for swine producers.
