An African swine fever outbreak is spreading in Vietnam, harming local agriculture and forcing three times as many pigs to be culled as last year, the government said this morning.
"The outbreak is developing in complicated ways," the government said in a statement. "It threatens to spread over a large area."
The outbreak has spread to 2,275 areas in 57 of the country's 63 cities and provinces this year, the government said, adding that authorities have killed 230,000 pigs so far this year.
African swine fever is harmless to humans, but is often fatal to pigs. It originated in Africa before it spread to Europe and Asia and killed hundreds of millions of pigs.
Vietnam reported its first cases of African swine fever in its pig herd in February 2019. The disease forced the culling of about 20% of its pig herd and doubled the domestic price of pork early last year.
The outbreak subsided later last year and early this year, allowing the country to rebuild its pig herd.
Source
Hansa Terminhandel GmbH
