China's Liaoning province will boost its security measures in inspecting its swine farms and markets as well as in strengthening the transport of its hog items after China's first case of African swine fever (ASF) was monitored thereat.
The Provincial Bureau of Animal Health and Production in Liaoning said that the African swine fever outbreak should be eradicated immediately as it poses a major threat to China's hog farming industry.
"If it can be under control, it should not be a problem but we have to watch the developments very carefully," according to China-America Commodity Data Analytics Senior Analyst Yao Guiling. "If the disease gets out of control, the losses will be immeasurable."
The Liaoning Provincial Government has instructed concerned local authorities to conduct emergency inspections of all slaughterhouses, hog markets, piggery farms and other related sites in the entire province. It also asked its animal health bureau and other stakeholders to report immediately any monitored pig deaths, regardless of the causes of death. They are also to monitor specifically slaughtered hogs that are inflicted with splenic hemorrhage or immune system failure.
The Liaoning Provincial Government also ordered the closure and the termination of operations of all live pig markets and slaughterhouses in the district of Shenbei where the outbreak of African swine fever was first discovered. According to China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the infection was discovered in a small farm of 383 pigs in Shenbei. Some 47 pigs died instantly from the disease.
Following the outbreak, the Chinese Government culled around 913 hogs Liaoning's capital Shenyang. The Chinese Government also banned the transportation of hogs from Liaoning to different areas in the country. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued an alert, banning farmers from feeding the pigs with food waste that are not well-prepared.
According to China's Animal Health Bureau, pigs and other hog products in Shenyang can only be distributed within Shenyang City. Related items from outside the city should undergo first strict quarantine screening.
Meanwhile, the African swine fever outbreak in Liaoning, which is first in East Asia, has stirred concerns all over China and to neighboring Asian countries as well as the nearby Korean Peninsula. China is the largest in the world when it comes to pig herd.
Neighboring country Japan has already suspended the importation of pork from China following the outbreak. It has also tightened security measures and quarantine process of heat-treated Chinese pork in its seaports and airports.
