World meat industry news

African Swine Fever continues to spread in China with now 80 reported cases in 20 areas. Since this weekend, that also includes the metropolitan area of Beijing. In the meantime, the virus has also been found in the luggage of Chinese travellers to Thailand.

Photo: 123RF

On Monday, the Thai Department of Livestock Development (DLD) reported that traces of ASF had been found in sausages brought by Chinese tourists, arriving in Thailand through Chiang Rai airport in the north of the country, according to Pasusart News. The travellers came from Chengdu in China’s Sichuan province.

The finding confirms that the virus has many ways to spread. Earlier, similar findings were done in South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. The Thai authorities have announced to take many measures to fight ASF as much as possible, should it turn up in Thai swine farms.

ASF in Beijing metropolitan area

This weekend, Beijing metropolitan area also confirmed outbreaks of African Swine Fever. As can be seen on the interactive outbreak map below, the virus was found on 2 farms in Fangshan district, according to the Chinese Ministry of Rural Affairs (MARA). One farm had 1,325 pigs, the other 429.

Beijing is the 20th region in China to officially report the occurrence of ASF. All 4 metropolitan areas in China (which also include Tianjin, Shanghai and Chongqing) have now reported African Swine Fever outbreaks. There are strong indications that the real level of outbreaks is substantially higher than what is reported.

Other recently reported outbreaks include farms in Hubei’s Huangshi City (on a backyard farm with 63 pigs) and in Inner Mongolia’s Baotou area (on a backyard farm with 63 pigs).