Pig Disease Outbreaks | God's World News

Pig Disease Outbreaks

06/24/2019
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    (A pig peers from its pen in My Duc district, Hanoi, Vietnam. Asian nations are scrambling to contain the spread of African swine fever. AP Photo/Hieu Dinh)

Asian nations are scrambling to contain the spread of the highly contagious African swine fever. Supplies are dwindling as No. 1 pork producer China and hard-hit Vietnam destroy huge numbers of herds and tighten controls on shipments. The two countries report nearly four million dead pigs in a huge epidemic—one that some governments fear has gone out of control.

A United Nations food agency is urging Asian governments to make containing virulent African swine fever their top priority. Thailand and other countries still free of infections have taken strong preventive actions, including disinfecting farms and banning the import of pork, sausages, ham, or bacon.

Swine fever is harmless to people but fatal and highly contagious for pigs. There is no known cure.

The pig deaths in Vietnam could sink many farmers deeper into poverty, says Wantanee Kalpravidh, a regional coordinator of the UN Food Agency. In one suburb of Hanoi, officials have scattered disinfecting lime powder around empty pig farms and set up checkpoints to control shipments.

Pork prices have soared and caused shortages in some markets. Besides the China and Vietnam epidemics, smaller outbreaks have occurred in Hong Kong, Taiwan, North Korea, Cambodia, Laos, and Mongolia.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasts its total hog herd will shrink by 18% to its lowest level since the 1980s.

South Korean diets rely heavily on pork. An outbreak could hurt the pork industry, which boasts 6,300 farms raising more than 11 million pigs.

“This is the largest animal disease outbreak in history,” says Dirk Pfieffer, a veterinary epidemiologist at the City University of Hong Kong. “We’ve never had anything like it.”

Have you or your family ever noticed a food shortage or a drastic price jump? If so, what product was affected?

(A pig peers from its pen in My Duc district, Hanoi, Vietnam. Asian nations are scrambling to contain the spread of African swine fever. AP Photo/Hieu Dinh)