Pigs culled amid African swine fever outbreak

China’s top regulator for agricultural and rural affairs confirmed the country’s first ever outbreak of African swine fever in Liaoning province, which it said has been put under control after emergency response measures like pig culling and quarantines.

On Wednesday, 47 of 383 hogs were reportedly dead at a farm in Shenbei New Area in Shenyang, capital of the province. After receiving the report, officials of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs rushed to take samples and lead prevention and control, according to a statement posted on the authority’s website on Friday.

Also on Friday, China Animal Health and Epidemiology Center confirmed the outbreak was caused by African swine fever, the statement said, adding the ministry has launched an emergency response and the disease has been brought under control.

“We’ve culled hogs, taken disinfection measures and banned hogs and other animals that might be infected in or out of the area affected. Now, Shenyang has also temporarily stopped transporting hogs out of the city,” the statement said.

By 3 pm on Friday, some 913 hogs had been slaughtered near Shenyang, according to the provincial animal health bureau.

The ministry also alerted those raising pigs not to move hogs from the area and practice disinfection regularly, suggesting they don’t feed hogs unpasteurized food waste from restaurants or canteens.

Hog farmers should report unnatural deaths of hogs or symptoms of African swine fever to local veterinary departments in a timely manner, it added.

The ministry said on Friday evening that the disease does not affect humans.

Kenya first reported African swine fever in 1921, and it spread to European and South American regions in the 1960s and 1970s, the authority said, adding the disease has hit Russia several times since last year.

African swine fever occurs in pigs and wild boars. It is transmitted by ticks and direct contact between animals, and its effects are often deadly, the ministry said.

“There is no vaccine against the disease, so improving prevention and disinfection at farms is a must,” said an official at ministry’s veterinary bureau, who was not named.

47 hogs died at a farm in Shenyang, Liaoning province, on Wednesday, and were later proved to have caught African swine fever.