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Bloomberg

Thailand, one of Asia’s top pork producers, is intensifying efforts to hold off a lethal pig virus that is causing havoc as it spreads across the region.
African swine fever – a disease that kills virtually all the pigs it infects – has been spreading through Asia from China and Mongolia.
Millions of pigs have been culled, creating a global protein shortage, and saddling farmers and food businesses with billions of dollars in costs.
“We’re on red alert for the pig virus,” Anan Suwannarat, the permanent secretary in Thailand’s Agriculture Ministry, said. “We’re trying everything to prevent it from spreading to Thailand.”
African swine fever: Not enough pork ‘in the whole world’ to fill China’s supply gap
Thailand has tightened inspections at airports and border checkpoints, cracked down on illegal slaughterhouses and traders, and imposed stricter requirements for reporting hog deaths.
The authorities have detected contaminated pork products at airports and borders, but have not yet found any cases at farms.
Preventing the outbreak is our national agenda.
Cheerasak Pipatpongsopon, Livestock Department
China, the largest pork producer and consumer, has been trying to contain the outbreak since August. But with no vaccine, the virus keeps spreading.
The strain of African swine fever spreading in Asia is undeniably nasty, killing virtually every pig it infects by a haemorrhagic illness reminiscent of Ebola in humans. It is not known to sicken people, however.




‘NO COUNTRY IS SAFE’
Vietnam, Southeast Asia’s biggest pork producer, discovered its first case in February.
Cambodia – sandwiched between Vietnam and Thailand – reported its first infection less than two months later.
“Preventing the outbreak is our national agenda,” said Cheerasak Pipatpongsopon, the deputy director general at Thailand’s Livestock Department. “Even if it gets into the country, we’ll be quick in containing the outbreak to minimise the damage to the industry.”
The Agriculture Ministry has estimated an outbreak may cost the Thai economy more than US$1 billion if over 50 per cent of the country’s hogs are infected. That could reach nearly US$2 billion if 80 per cent are infected.
China’s pork industry under threat as African swine fever spreads to all provinces
The Thai government last month approved a US$4.7 million budget to prepare the nation for a potential outbreak.
“No country is safe,” said Dirk Pfeiffer, a professor at the Department of Infectious Diseases and Public Health at City University of Hong Kong. “There’s a high risk of introduction of the virus for Thailand, as is the case for every country in the region and beyond.”

Thailand produces over 2 million hogs each year, and exports about 40 per cent to Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. It does not import live hogs or pork meat, according to Cheerasak, and now visitors are not permitted to bring processed pork products into the country.
Why is African swine fever such a threat to China’s economy?
It has confiscated pork products at its airports and borders 550 times since August, detecting the virus 43 times, according to the Livestock Department.
The Thai Swine Raisers Association said the government is striving to keep the disease out. The group’s president, Surachai Sutthitham, said he is “confident Thailand can stay clear of the virus”.
Porous borders increase the risk of the disease entering the country. The virus can survive in uncooked meat for a long period of time, and hogs can get infected if contaminated food gets into their feed. But swill feeding in Thailand is rare, Cheerasak said.
An outbreak in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy could pose a risk for major food companies like Betagro and Charoen Pokphand Foods, and threaten 180,000 smallholders. It would also create an immediate challenge for the government due to be formed soon following March’s general election.


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Thailand

‘We’re on red alert’: Thailand ramps up efforts to prevent African swine fever from spreading

Thailand estimates it could lose up to US$2 billion if 80 per cent of its pigs are infected. Photo: AFP

In this Thursday, May 16, 2019, photo, vendor Khov Sokhouy, 56, left, receives money while selling pork at the Phsar Kandal market in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Pork lovers worldwide are wincing at prices that have jumped by up to 40 percent as China’s struggle to stamp out African swine fever in its vast pig herds sends shockwaves through global meat markets. Potential shortages are a more serious concern in places such as Cambodia where pork is the only meat many families can afford. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

African swine fever: hopes that Hong Kong pork supplies will resume by Thursday after biggest cull in half-century

Pigs being prepared for the cull at Sheung Shui slaughterhouse. Photo: Felix Wong

Staff in protective gear entered the Sheung Shui Slaughterhouse. 13MAY19 SCMP / Felix Wong

Staff inside Sheung Shui slaughterhouse ahead of the cull. Photo: Felix Wong

Deadly in pigs but harmless to humans, why is African swine fever such a threat to China’s economy?

More than a million pigs have already been killed in attempts to stop the spread of African swine fever in China. Photo: Reuters

epa07205373 A Chinese Epidemic Prevention Officer investigates the site blocked due to African swine fever in the Beijing district of Tongzhou, China, 03 December 2018. The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture confirmed the outbreak of a new African swine fever on a farm with 9,835 pigs in Tongzhou. 17 pigs died of the disease. EPA-EFE/WU HONG

Image of the wet market in Yau Ma Tei. 11MAY19 SCMP / Edmond So

News

Asia

Southeast Asia

Thailand has tightened border inspections, cracked down on illegal slaughterhouses and traders, and imposed stricter requirements for reporting hog deaths
The Agriculture Ministry has estimated an outbreak may cost the Thai economy more than US$1 billion if over 50 per cent of the country’s hogs are infected


The Southeast Asian nation, one of Asia’s top pork producers, has tightened border inspections and is cracking down on illegal slaughterhouses to prevent the disease from causing havoc.


China food safety

Food and agriculture

African swine fever