China culls over 900,000 pigs since ASF outbreak

By Ashley Williams

22-Jan-2019 - Last updated on 22-Jan-2019 at 15:28 GMT

China has been one of the worst nations affected by the disease

China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has revealed that it has culled 916,000 pigs since the beginning of the African swine fever (ASF) outbreak in August 2018.

The Asian country has been one of the worst nations affected by the disease as domestic pigs have contracted ASF in 24 provinces.

China’s agriculture ministry spokesman Guang Defu said the government had strengthened control measures throughout the country to tackle the disease across its pork supply.

Defu added that the measures had allowed the country to lift 77 areas affected in 21 provinces out of the blockade, according to the rules.

“The epidemic occurred in separate spots rather than spreading widely,” said Defu. “All local departments involved have given full play to the role of the joint prevention and control mechanism and strictly tackled the epidemic according to decisions and deployments made by the central government.”

One of the first areas affected by ASF in China was in Liaoning, resulting in 8,000 pigs being culled.

Many major international markets have taken action to protect themselves against the disease. For example, Australia recently ramped up biosecurity measures at international airports and mail processing centres to prevent ASF from entering the country.