'Significantly disrupting': More than 100 cases of swine fever recorded in China

Several hundred thousand pigs have died of the disease or been culled
Several hundred thousand pigs have died of the disease or been culled

More than 100 cases of African swine fever have now been recorded in China, 'significantly disrupting' the country's cherished pig industry.

The majority of cases have hit small producers with poorer biosecurity, although recently a herd of 74,000 head was also affected, according to AHDB analyst Bethan Wilkins.

Several hundred thousand pigs have died of the disease or been culled, although with a pig population of over 400 million head, this is yet to make any material dent in swine stocks, she said.

The Chinese pig industry has been ‘significantly disrupted’ by the outbreaks.

“Provinces where there are active outbreaks, and those surrounding, are subject to restrictions on live transport. This is particularly problematic as during the industry’s recent modernisation programme, many pig farms were relocated to remote Northern areas,” Ms Wilkins wrote.

“However, most abattoirs are situated in the south near more populous areas, necessitating long-distance transport to slaughter.”

In Europe, Belgian authorities have begun culling wild boar to prevent further spread of swine fever.

A total of 114 dead wild boars have been diagnosed with swine fever, so far all of them have been located in the restriction zone in the Luxembourg region of the country.

The Belgium government has released €1m (£880m) for the culling of more than 4,000 commercial and domestic pigs in the African swine fever infected zone.

The UK's National Pig Association has urged pig farmers and keepers to not feed kitchen or catering waste to pigs to help prevent the spread of the disease.