China, the world’s leading hog producer, has culled nearly 40,000 hogs in its attempts to stop African swine fever since the disease, deadly for hogs but no threat to humans, was spotted on its farms last month. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said the disease will almost certainly emerge in other countries in Asia.
“Unfortunately, what we’re seeing so far is just the tip of the iceberg,” said FAO chief veterinary officer Jaun Lubroth during a meeting in Bangkok. The disease was detected last year in Siberia and now has spread across China. Outbreaks have been confirmed in Jiamusi, on the Russian border in northeastern China, and in Wenzhou, on the East China Sea near Taiwan, some 1,900 miles south.
“The geographical spread, of which ASF has been repeated in such a short period of time, means that trans-boundary emergence of the virus, likely through movements of products containing infected pork, will almost certainly occur. So it’s no longer if that will happen but when, and what we can do collaboratively to prevent and minimize the damage,” said Lubroth. The virus probably was carried in raw or processed pork products.
According to the China National Grain and Oil Information Center, the outbreak of African swine fever will have a limited effect on soymeal sales because Chinese hog production typically expands during the fall, reported AgriCensus. China has 500 million hogs.
Meanwhile, Japan said it found the first case of swine fever among its hogs in 26 years, and it suspended exports of pork and wild boar meat, said Reuters. Despite the similar names, the disease in Japan is different from African swine fever in China.