Vietnam

Image/Mutinka
Image/Mutinka

Vietnamese media report that the Vietnam Department of Animal Health announced (computer translated) Tuesday that eight African swine fever (ASF), or swine cholera outbreaks in the two northern provinces of Thai Binh and Hung Yen.

ASF virus was discovered in Hung Yens Hung Yen city and Yen My district, and Thai Binhs Hung Ha district.

Scores of pigs were destroyed and veterinary agencies and local authorities have carried out general cleaning, spraying disinfectants continuously in areas with epidemics, access roads and epidemics and high-risk areas; establishment of quarantine latch, strict management of transportation, slaughtering and consumption of pork products in epidemic areas; total review of the situation of pigs in the commune and other localities in the area.

China

The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs reported the first African swine fever outbreak in Yinhai District, Beihai City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The outbreak resulted in the deaths of 924 pigs in two communities with 23,555 live pigs.

ASF arrived in China in early August and has been recorded in different areas of the country, in some cases more than one-thousand kilometers apart.

LISTEN: African swine fever, China and the risk to the US

African Swine Fever (ASF) is a highly contagious, generalized disease of pigs caused by an Iridovirus of family Asfarviridae that exhibits varying virulence between strains and is very hardy to physical and chemical inactivation. The agent can remain viable for long periods in blood, feces and tissues. It can also multiply in its vectors.

It most commonly appears in the acute form as a hemorrhagic fever. Subacute and chronic forms of the disease also exist. Mortality is usually close to 100 percent and pigs of all ages are affected.