China is currently fighting two highly contagious diseases, one that is killing people and another that is killing pigs. The country has already pretty much brought the coronavirus pandemic under control within its borders, which is what it believed it had also done with the African swine fever epidemic. However, new reports have revealed that swine fever cases may be going back up once again.
Since mid-November of last year, China saw continually declining reports of new swine fever cases. The country had taken drastic measures to mitigate the spread of the disease, including the culling of more than 120 million hogs across the country. In February, Chinese health authorities had declared that the swine fever was under control.
According to reports, China's claim of the pandemic being under control may not be that accurate. Reports citing sources within China revealed that more than a dozen cases since the start of March had been recorded. Earlier this month, fresh cases of the virus were reported in the northwestern Gansu province. This was followed by an outbreak that was traced to a truck transporting 83 piglets to Leshan city in China's Sichuan province.
Authorities then reported another outbreak a few days later, which was traced to pigs that were illegally transported to China's Inner Mongolia region. Authorities have already launched separate investigations into the illegal transportation of hogs around the region, which have been blamed for the resurgence of new infections.
Last week, China's agricultural ministry revealed that it had detected new cases of the disease in the southwestern province of Sichuan. The latest cases were traced to pigs transported inside a truck that was stopped at a checkpoint in Nanjing County near Bazhong city. All of the new cases, including the 13 reported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs on its website, were found in pigs being transported between provinces.
Dirk Pfeiffer, a professor of veterinary epidemiology at the City University of Hong Kong, mentioned in a statement that the recently reported cases may just be the tip of the iceberg as most farmers are unwilling to report outbreaks to officials. Vice agriculture minister Yu Kangzhen recently mentioned that the risk of a resurgence of the disease is high during this time as farmers try to rebuild their herds, sourcing young pigs from other provinces or abroad.
There is currently no cure for the African swine fever and the disease does have a very high mortality rate, which can be as high as 100 percent in some cases. Researchers are currently working on a vaccine but until one is successfully created, countries such as China will have to work to mitigate its spread.
