The consequences of its spread could be devastating and deadly … another virus outbreak in China (details)

On Saturday, China confirmed an outbreak of African swine fever in Sichuan and Hebei provinces, the country’s two main pork producers.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in a statement that the outbreak had killed 38 pigs on a farm in Sichuan province, the largest pork producer in China, and in Hebei province, the disease was detected in a bus that was transporting pigs illegally. from another province.

China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of pork.

The African swine fever outbreak consumed almost half of the country’s swine wealth in 2019.

China also announced another outbreak of the disease last week, in the southwestern province of Yunnan.

According to the website of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, “FAO”, there is no effective vaccine to protect pigs from disease. Although this disease does not pose a direct threat to human health, the consequences of its spread can be devastating and deadly, leading to the death of 100% infected animals.

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Although this is not the first time that the spread of African swine fever has been detected in regions outside of Africa, as it had previously spread to Europe and the Americas during the 1960s, its discovery and the diversity of outbreaks in China raised fears. of cross diseases. -Border transmission to neighboring countries in Southeast Asia or the Korean peninsula, which also has a high percentage of sale and consumption of pork products.

The African swine fever virus is highly tolerant and can last for long periods of time in both extremely cold and extremely hot climates, and even in dried or processed pork products. The strain of the virus discovered in China is similar to the strain that infected pigs in eastern Russia in 2017.