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Changhua raises African swine fever alert

Animal and livestock disease control authorities in Changhua County raised an alert on Thursday against a possible outbreak of African swine fever that has reportedly wreaked havoc on hog farms in northern China recently.

Officials at the Animal Disease Control Center of Changhua County quoted foreign news wire services as reporting that an outbreak of a disease similar to African swine fever has been reported at hog farms in areas of northern China's Heilongjiang Province, bordering Russia.

Russia has reportedly reinforced its controls along the border with China in a bid to keep the hog disease at bay.

CHINESE PIG FARMERS

Changhua officials urged hog farm operators in the county and the rest of the country to strengthen disease prevention measures and to avoid inviting their Chinese counterparts to visit local farms or livestock markets.

They also called for members of Taiwan's public not to purchase pork and pork products from unknown sources.

They said that African swine fever is a highly contagious, generalized disease of pigs caused by a virus known as iridovirus.

The virus resists inactivation and can persist in meat for up to 15 weeks, processed ham for up to 6 months, and up to one month in contaminated livestock pens.

The disease is endemic to most of southern Africa and on the Iberian peninsula of Europe.

Since the 1960s, outbreaks have occurred in France, Italy, Malta, Belgium, Holland, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

Outbreaks occur when domestic pigs come in contact with carrier ticks, rather than from direct transmission from other pigs or warthogs.

EXCRETIONS, SECRETIONS

In Europe, direct transmission is more important as the virus is shed in high concentration in the animals' excretions and secretions during the acute phase the disease.

After an incubation period of five to 15 days, the disease may manifest itself in a number of forms. Animals found to be in the peracute phase of the disease usually die soon after discovery, while pigs found to be in the acute phase of the disease can exhibit a variety of symptoms.

In the beginning, infected animals will exhibit high fevers of up to 42oC, followed by one to two days of loss of appetite and recumbency, skin blotching, diarrhea or miscarriages. Mortality is close to 100 percent within seven days, the Changhua animal disease control officials said.
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