HCM City (VNA) - Authorities in thesouthern largest economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City have been taking drasticmeasures in response to African swine fever after outbreaks were reportedin the neighbouring province of Dong Nai.

According to the city’s Sub-department ofVeterinary Health, no pigs with African swine fever had been discovered.However the swine fever had attacked Dong Nai province which providesup to 50 percent of pork for HCM City, so the chances were highthat it could spread.

Some 4,000 pigs from northern provinces are sent from HCM City tobe distributed in the Mekong Delta everyday. This also poses the risk of disease spreading insouthern provinces.

Huynh Tan Phat, the sub-department’s deputyhead, said that management of pigs imported to the city had beentightened.

However, it was difficult to control porkdispatched from other provinces and shipped to the city’s markets forconsumption.

Phat urged authorities in southernprovinces and cities to collaborate to prevent the disease from spreading.

Meanwhile, illegal slaughterhouses in districts12, Go Vap and Binh Tan posed a threat of African swinefever infecting HCM City’s pig population.

There are nearly 4,000 pig farming householdswith some 274,000 pigs in the city, of which 274 households feed pigs withleftover food, one of the main causes of the disease.

Since May 2, pigs have onlybeen transported to HCM City via national highways 1A and 1K, and arebeing sterilised at Thu Duc and Xuan Hiep quarantine checkpoints.

Quarantine certificates are not being issued forslaughterhouses in affected areas.

Checkpoints have been set upalong borders with neighbouring provinces including Binh Duong andLong An.

Binh Phuoc province on May 9 reportedits first case of African swine fever at a smallholding in Tan Lien ward,Tan Phu town, Dong Phu district. Seven pigs were culled immediately.

On the same day, provincial authoritiesheld an urgent meeting to discuss solutions for African swine fever.

Binh Phuoc province has a 260km border withCambodia and serves as a transit area between the southern Central Highlandsand southeast provinces, making it hard to control the disease.

The province is home to 11,000 pig-farminghouseholds and 250 farms with some 740,000 pigs.-VNA