2021/01/22 13:30
Pigs stand in a barn at a pig farm in Panggezhuang village in northern China's Hebei province.
Pigs stand in a barn at a pig farm in Panggezhuang village in northern China's Hebei province.
(AP photo)
A new form of African swine fever identified in Chinese pig farms is most likely caused by illicit vaccines, industry insiders say, a fresh blow to the world’s largest pork producer, still recovering from a devastating epidemic of the virus.
Two new strains of African swine fever have infected more than 1,000 sows on several farms owned by New Hope Liuhe, China’s fourth-largest producer, as well as pigs being fattened for the firm by contract farmers, said Yan Zhichun, the company’s chief science officer.