Talks to separate Hong Kong and mainland Chinese pigs in slaughterhouses amid African swine fever fears
- The disease is already in neighbouring Guangdong province
- Government assures public the virus cannot pass to humans
Hong Kong food safety officials on Thursday said they had been in talks with the pork industry over segregating local and mainland Chinese pigs during slaughter, because of fears of an outbreak of African swine fever which had already spread to neighbouring Guangdong province.
But the Centre for Food Safety said the separate ownership and operation of the city’s two main abattoirs made such a move difficult. Mainland and local pigs are processed at both the Sheung Shui slaughterhouse, which is owned by the government, and a privately run one in Tsuen Wan.
“The operation, source of pigs and sales are different, making it difficult to achieve a consensus,” a source from the centre said, adding, however, that segregation would help protect local pigs from infection.
The source said the centre and the city’s Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department had stepped up measures to prevent local pigs from being infected, including giving local farmers information about the disease and boosting sterilisation of trucks used in the industry.
