Asian nations scramble to contain pig disease outbreaks
Asian nations are scrambling to contain the spread of the highly contagious African swine fever with Vietnam culling 2.5 million pigs and China reporting more than a million dead in an unprecedentedly huge epidemic some governments fear has gone out of control.
Smaller outbreaks have been reported in Hong Kong, Taiwan, North Korea, Cambodia and Mongolia after cases were first reported in China's northeast last August. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization is expected to release a weekly update Thursday on the scale of infections, which could show the numbers significantly rising.
With supply dwindling as No. 1 pork producer China and hard-hit Vietnam destroy huge numbers of herds and tighten controls on shipments, prices have soared by up to 40% and caused shortages in other markets.
In this May 30, 2019, photo, pigs are kept in a pen in My Duc district, Hanoi, Vietnam. Asian nations are scrambling to contain the spread of the highly contagious African swine fever with Vietnam culling 2.5 million pigs and China reporting more than a million dead in an unprecedentedly huge epidemic governments fear have gone out of control. (AP PhotoHieu Dinh)
In this June 16, 2019, photo, animal health workers take samples from dead pigs in Duc Hoa district, Long An province, Vietnam. Asian nations are scrambling to contain the spread of the highly contagious African swine fever with Vietnam culling 2.5 million pigs and China reporting more than a million dead in an unprecedentedly huge epidemic governments fear have gone out of control. (Tran Thanh BinhVietnam News Agency via AP)
Pork is on display for sale at a market in Hanoi, Vietnam, Thursday, June, 20, 2019. Asian nations are scrambling to contain the spread of the highly contagious African swine fever with Vietnam culling 2.5 million pigs and China reporting more than a million dead in an unprecedentedly huge epidemic governments fear have gone out of control. (AP PhotoHieu Dinh)
In this May 8, 2019, aerial photo, white disinfectant powder is sprinkled on the soil around a pig farm in Jiangjiaqiao village in northern China's Hebei Province. Asian nations are scrambling to contain the spread of the highly contagious African swine fever with Vietnam culling 2.5 million pigs and China reporting more than a million dead in an unprecedentedly huge epidemic some governments fear has gone out of control. (AP PhotoSam McNeil)
In this June 16, 2019, photo, bags of dead pigs are loaded in a pitch for burial in An Phu district, An Giang province, Vietnam. Asian nations are scrambling to contain the spread of the highly contagious African swine fever with Vietnam culling 2.5 million pigs and China reporting more than a million dead in an unprecedentedly huge epidemic governments fear have gone out of control. (Vo Thanh SangVietnam News Agency via AP)