The number of fresh outbreaks of African swine fever in China has dropped this year and pig production is slowly returning to normal, its vice agriculture minister said yesterday, amid suspicions that the full extent of the disease has not been reported.
Asked about reports of fresh outbreaks of the disease, Chinese Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Yu Kangzhen (于康震) said that China had seen only 44 new cases in the first six months of this year.
That brings the total number of cases China has reported since the first in August last year to 143, with 1.16 million pigs culled, Yu told reporters at a briefing.
Photo: Reuters
However, many outbreaks are not being reported, farmers have told Reuters, with local officials in some provinces unwilling to verify the disease.
Reuters earlier this week reported that as many as half of China’s breeding pigs have died from African swine fever or have been slaughtered because of the spreading disease, twice as many as had been officially acknowledged.
The government is checking online reports of alleged outbreaks of the disease, Yu said, adding that any party not reporting a case would be severely punished.
“Our attitude is very clear: When it comes to underreporting of the disease, although we can’t guarantee zero cases [are not reported], we will definitely have zero tolerance for it,” he said.
Some talk of cases turned out to be rumors after official checks, he added.
However, there were still challenges in controlling the spread of the fever, Yu said, citing as an example the practice of feeding kitchen waste to pigs, which has been banned, but is still taking place.
The virus can remain in meat that has not been properly cooked, potentially infecting pigs that eat food scraps.
The capability of China’s many small farmers to prevent the disease is also weak, and areas with many outbreaks tend to be places where there are not enough people and money to prevent and control it, he said.
Yu’s comments came after China’s Cabinet issued new guidelines on improving measures to prevent and control the disease, saying that there were shortcomings in China’s efforts and that the situation remained severe.
The Chinese State Council said that management of transporting live hogs is not strict enough and there is insufficient capacity in testing for the African swine fever virus in slaughtering plants.
It also urged stricter handling of kitchen scraps.
The disease would leave China with a “tight balance” in pig supplies, Yu said, adding that imports, including from the US, would help adjust supplies.
Others have warned of a looming shortage of millions of tonnes of pork.
Yu also warned that research and development of a vaccine to prevent African swine fever is only in its early stages, and faced significant challenges and technical bottlenecks.
He declined to comment on a time line for the likely launch of a Chinese-made vaccine.
Chinese state media in May reported that government researchers were ready to start clinical trials on a vaccine after identifying suitable candidates.
Research institutes have set up partnerships with major vaccine producers in China, Yu said, but added that developing an effective vaccine was an “austere task.”
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