Hog farms found using illegal vaccines would be punished under China’s intensified efforts to arrest its African swine fever crisis.
Homemade, experimental and imported vaccines against the pig-killing virus are prohibited and risk untold biosafety hazards for the world’s largest pork industry, Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Department of Livestock Production Director-General Yang Zhenhai (楊振海) told reporters in Beijing yesterday.
“Farms that use these vaccines won’t be able to effectively prevent the disease and they could spread it further — something we take seriously,” Yang said.
The ministry would punish those who use, produce or sell such products, he said, adding that those found guilty could face fines of as much as 200,000 yuan (US$28,431).
A ministry hotline for citizens to report outbreak “irregularities” would offer cash rewards of 30,000 yuan.
The measures aim to halt the swine contagion, which Rabobank earlier this month estimated has caused China’s hog herd to more than halve to less than 200 million heads since the first case was reported in August last year.
Some domestic research institutes are conducting studies on vaccines, but these remain at the preclinical stage, while the safety of genetically modified organisms is evaluated, Yang said.
While none have been approved for field trials, the ministry is pushing for their development to ensure the production of safe, effective and high-quality immunizations, he added.
Unauthorized experimental vaccines have been used to immunize millions of hogs in China, creating “chaos” because of their varying levels of efficacy, Caixin reported last week.
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