Rassegna Stampa

How does China’s pig industry deal with the aftermath of African Swine Fever? Although most messages appear to be overly positive, there is also reason to remain vigilant. ASF virus appears to be popping up in a mutated form. Dr E. Wayne Johnson, veterinarian in Beijing, describes what he sees happening on farms.

Most messages about China’s pig industry in 2020 and early 2021 are very positive. Even though the African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreaks of 2019 led to the estimated disappearance of at least 40% of the country’s sow herd, the shortage brought on record prices and profits. A country on the rebound, now swine facilities are built everywhere.

For instance, early December 2020 news agency Reuters sent out an impressive article covering a huge 21 multi-storey building swine farm by Muyuan in Henan province, eventually to be housing 84,000 sows. Yet, does that mean that ASF is something of the past? Officially, it does not seem to be a huge problem. In January 2021, the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) reported 1 infected farm in Guangdong province with 1,015 pigs. The report before that dates from October 2020.