A new form of African swine fever has been identified in Chinese pig farms. According to Reuters, industry insiders say that the disease was most likely caused by illegal vaccines, and serves as a fresh blow to the nation where the COVID-19.
By Dominique Patton BEIJING (Reuters) - 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. Though the strains, which are missing one or two key genes present in the wild African swine fever virus, don t kill pigs like the disease that ravaged China s farms in 2018 and 2019, they cause a chronic condition that reduces the number of healthy piglets born, Yan told Reuters. At New Hope, and many large producers, infected pigs are culled to prevent the spread, making the disease effectively fatal. Although the known infections are limited
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.