BEIJING: China’s agriculture ministry yesterday confirmed the first cases of African swine fever in Beijing, a disease that has spread across the country despite efforts to contain it. The disease was found on two farms in the Fangshan District in southwest Beijing where 86 out of more than 1,700 pigs died, the ministry said in a statement. A special task force has since sealed off the farms for culling and disinfection while live pigs and pork products are barred from leaving the area.
Separately, senior ministry officials said during a briefing that 600,000 pigs have been culled since African swine fever was first detected in August in the world’s biggest consumer and producer of pork. It surfaced in northeastern Liaoning province but has now spread to 20 provinces with 73 cases reported. “As you can see right now, the situation… is still very severe,” said deputy director of the bureau of husbandry and veterinary medicine Feng Zhongwu. – AFP
