China to deal with ASF situation for many years, says OIE official
With every province affected by the African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreaks and neighboring countries sharing the same problem, China may live the effects of this disease for a long time, according to OIE Deputy Director General Matthew Stone.
In an interview for Reuters, Stone expressed his concern about the ASF situation in China and in other Asian countries. "China is going to deal with this African swine fever for many years to come. The situation is going to continue to evolve in Asia because we know there is significant contamination of the meat and meat products supply chain and practices such as garbage feeding that may not be appropriately regulated,", he explained.
According to analyses released by USDA and Rabobank, China may lose this year between 10 and 30% of its national pig inventory but this is only the beginning of the story. Experts expect the ASF situation to last at least three or four years before rebuilding the Chinese pig herd while other voices are mentioning Russia, a country that fights against the disease for a decade now.
"It is an enormous challenge for some of these countries in Asia to transform their farming systems into higher biosecurity systems but that’s imperative. We are going to live with African swine fever for many years. This is why the long-term focus on research and development and the short-and midterm focus on improved biosecurity and veterinary services’ capacity to respond is absolutely imperative", declared Matthew Stone.
Besides China, the virus is now present in Laos, North Korea, Cambodia, Mongolia, and Vietnam. In the first three months since the disease was reported in Vietnam, the number of pigs culled due to ASF has reached 1.7 million.
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