China registers ASF outbreak on Hainan farm

This was the first time in more than two years that the virus has been detected on a pig farm in this province.

pig in pig sty on organic farm
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In central Vietnam, there has been a sudden surge in new cases, and further outbreaks have been confirmed in domestic pigs in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Russia’s Far East and Ural districts, as well as among South Korean wild boar.

At the end of October, pigs at a farm in Hainan province tested positive for the African swine fever (ASF) virus after one of the animals showed signs of the disease. This was the first time in more than two years that the virus has been detected on a pig farm in this province.

Affected was a farm with just over 1,000 pigs in the southeastern county of Wanning, according to the official report to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). All 1,063 animals at the farm were culled to prevent further spread of the infection.

The source of the infection remains unknown. Chinese authorities reported the most recent ASF cases in the region in May 2019.

Located in the South China Sea, Hainan is the smallest and most southerly province of the People’s Republic of China.

In Hong Kong, no further cases of ASF have been detected, according to the latest update submitted by the authorities to the OIE.

After reports of multiple mortalities among the local wild boar, the carcass of one animal found dead in a natural park tested positive for the ASF virus in early September. This remains the only reported case in the territory since May.

Recent research indicates the presence of two genotypes of the ASF virus circulating in China.

Many new ASF outbreaks reported in Vietnam

According to Chinese news agency Xinhua, pigs in central Vietnam have been involved in “hundreds of outbreaks” of ASF in recent weeks.

In a complex and rapidly developing situation, this source refers to culling of more than 2,000 pigs in each of the provinces of Thanh Hoa and Quang Binh. Further widespread outbreaks are reported in Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Nam and Quang Tri.

Contributing to the deteriorating disease situation are a change in the weather, and a seasonal rise in the trading and movements of pigs in Vietnam.

Citing data from the animal health department, the source reports that 1,900 ASF outbreaks have occurred across 57 Vietnamese communities up to the end of last month. These led to the culling of around 160,000 pigs.

While Quang Nam is the most northerly province in the South Central Coast region, all the other provinces mentioned in the report are located in Vietnam’s North Central Coast region.

ASF was first detected in Vietnam in February 2019. Throughout the next two years, almost 2,000 outbreaks were reported to the OIE. Affecting all 63 provinces and cities of Vietnam, these directly impacted almost six million pigs.

More pigs culled in the Philippines

In the Northern Mindanao region, more than 230 pigs were culled last week in the province of Lanao Norte as a result of ASF control measures, reported the Philippine News Agency (PNA). Affected were a total of 44 pig owners in two neighboring communities. Each is set to receive financial compensation for their culled animals.

To the east on the island of Mindanao is the Caraga region, where the local government handed over a total of PHP385,000 (US$7,700) to 12 farmers whose herds were culled as a result of previous infections there.

In the Western Visayas province of Antique, the focus remains on tightening controls over the movements of live pigs and pork products across its borders. Local authorities continue to try to prevent the entry of the disease through infected animals or meat from ASF risk areas on Luzon and Mindanao, reports PNA. The provincial veterinary authority is calling on the local government to set up a task force to coordinate these disease control efforts.

On the island of Luzon, first steps are being taken to repopulate units where pigs were lost through previous ASF outbreaks. PNA reported last week that a small number of pigs are being delivered to Pangasinan province. They will act as sentinels to ensure the area is disease free before full restocking is allowed.

This month, it was reported that ASF cases are in decline in the Philippines.

New cases in Russia’s Ural, Far Eastern federal districts

Over the past week, OIE has been notified by Russian veterinary authorities of further ASF cases among backyard herds in two of the country’s eastern regions.

In the Ural federal district, two new outbreaks have been registered in the Sverdlovsk region. Directly impacted were 355 pigs, around half of which died around the beginning of November. They bring to six the number of confirmed outbreaks in Sverdlovsk since the region’s first cases at the end of September.

Further to the east in the Far Eastern federal district, additional cases of ASF have been recorded among six backyard herds in the Amur region. The number of outbreaks there since July remains at 47, including 15 in wild boar.

Also in the Far East is the Yevrey region (Jewish Autonomous oblast). With just one outbreak confirmed in a backyard herd in early September, the authorities have declared the ASF situation in this region “resolved.” Affected was a herd of 13 pigs — the first to test positive for the ASF virus since March 2021.

ASF situation elsewhere in Asia

Total wild boar in South Korea that have tested positive for the ASF virus now stands at 1,687, This is according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO; as of November 9).

Latest cases have been detected in the northern provinces of Gyeonggi and Gangwon. For the first time, positive tests have been obtained from wild boar in the Gangwon county of Samcheok.

Since ASF was first detected in South Korea in September 2019, a total of 21 outbreaks have been reported on the country’s pig farms. Most recently affected was a premises in early October.

In Indonesia, FAO refers to local reports of ASF spreading to Gunung Mas Regency at the end of last month. Around 350 pigs died. This region is past of Central Kalimantan.

According to this source, Indonesia’s first ASF cases were officially confirmed in 2019. Up to February of this year, the FAO reported confirmed cases in 10 of the country’s 34 provinces. As well as outbreaks among wild boar, local media have previously reported ASF-positive domestic pigs in East Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan. Kalimantan is the Indonesian territory of the island of Borneo.

Meanwhile, ASF is suspected as the cause of death of 185 pigs in Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos) over the past month. These mortalities occurred in Xiengkhouang province, which is in the northeast of the country, and borders Vietnam.

3 new ASF outbreaks, more cases in South African pigs

Since the end of October, South Africa’s animal health agency has notified the OIE about three new ASF outbreaks in the country’s domestic pigs.

In Mpumalanga, the virus was identified as the cause of death of all 50 animals at a farm at the end of September.

It was also retrospectively reported as the infection in a village herd of around 800 pigs in the same province in March of this year. Of these animals, 750 died.

In Eastern Cape, the deaths of 30 pigs in a village herd of 4,000 animals this month was also attributed to ASF.

Together with additional cases and mortalities in three backyard herds in Gauteng reported to the OIE over the past two weeks, around 56,000 pigs have been directly impacted by South Africa’s ongoing battle against ASF since 2019.

So far, all outbreaks are reported to be outside the country’s ASF Control Zone.

Update on the ASF situation in the Caribbean region

Since the nation’s first ASF cases in April this year, the number of confirmed ASF outbreaks in the Dominican Republic has reached 174. Based on reports to the OIE, this is twice as many as were reported just one month ago.

More than 14,500 pigs have been directly impacted through mortality or culling. One or more cases have now been confirmed in 26 of the country’s 32 regions.

The latest report to the OIE covers 38 outbreaks across 13 provinces between August 24 and October 28. Cases were confirmed on six farms, which are described as commercial but semi-intensive facilities. Each had between 89 and 529 pigs. Meanwhile, the other 32 outbreaks were among backyard herds, each with up to 280 pigs.

To the west of the Dominican Republic on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola is the Republic of Haiti. There, first cases were confirmed at the end of August. No updates on the situation have been registered with the OIE for the past month.

In October, Central American states agreed to cooperate to keep ASF from spreading to their territories. Since ASF virus was detected in meat from the Dominican Republic at an airport in Panama, biosecurity measures have been stepped up across the region, reported BreakingBelizeNews.

Previously, Belize’s agriculture minister had been invited to a meeting in El Salvador to discuss the ASF situation. He said that the disease would be disastrous for the country’s pig industry, which has more than 40,000 animals. It also provides jobs and livelihoods for more than 3,500 people.

Last week, Argentina announced measures to prevent the entry of ASF.

View our continuing coverage of the global African swine fever situation.

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