China finds African swine fever on a farm in the eastern province; 10th epidemic in one month

BEIJING (Reuters) – China has detected African swine fever on a farm in eastern Anhui province, the tenth largest case since the discovery of the first virus, the government said on Thursday.

(Location of the 10 outbreaks of African swine fever in China since 3 August 2018: tmsnrt.rs/2PICxBx)

The Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement that 22 pigs were dead and 62 had been infected in the farm, which has more than 800 pigs, in the city of Chuzhou.

The outbreak, the fifth since Sunday, is relatively close to four other cases in Anhui, raising concerns about the growing rate of infection in the region.

The disease has traveled great distances at the largest pork producer in the world, from Jiamisu, Heilongjiang, on the border with Russia, to Wenzhou, in Zhejiang Province, 3,000 km to the south.

The Chuzhou Farm is also larger than the small farms that have reported infections so far. Experts say backyard farms are more vulnerable to infection because they have less stringent biosecurity measures.

Swine fever is transmitted by ticks and direct contact between animals. She can also travel via contaminated food, pet food and people traveling from one place to another. There is no vaccine. This is not harmful to humans.