Hanoi (VNA) – The Ministry of Agricultureand Rural Development has decided to halt the import of pork and pork productsfrom Hungary and Poland to prevent the African Swine Fever (ASF) virus from entryinto Vietnam.

The decision came after the World Organisation for AnimalHealth (OIE) reported that Hungary has detected 17 cases of the ASF virus indead wild boars in Heves and Szabolcs-Szatmar-Bereg this year.

Meanwhile, the virus has been found in 315 wild boars and162 domestic pigs across five Polish provinces – Warminsko-Mazurskie,Podkarpackie, Podlaskie Mazowieckie, and Lubelskie.

To prevent the ASF virus from entering Vietnam andprotect public health, Vietnam will suspend the import of pork and porkproducts originating from Hungarian and Polish provinces affected by theepidemic from September 20, 2018 until the two European countries declare theend of the ASF outbreak in accordance with OIE regulations.

However, any consignment of pork and pork products fromthese affected areas will be permitted to enter Vietnam if it departed for thecountry before September 20.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development hasalso requested animal health agencies to carefully examine these consignments.

ASF is a tuple of infectious hemorrhagic fever which hasa 90-100 percent mortality rate for pigs and there is no vaccine or cure.

Although the disease is not dangerous to humans, it can cause great economicloss for farmers and harm pork trading.

From the end of 2017 to September 10, 17 countries and regions in Europe andAsia such as China and Estonia have had ASF outbreaks, with over 560,000 pigsculled, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health.

From the start of August to September 10, China reported 14 outbreaks, with38,000 pigs culled. The disease is moving southward towards provinces nearVietnam.

ASF is spread from pig to pig through various ways, including animal feedcontaminated with the pathogen, carriers such as ticks, or direct contactbetween infected pigs and healthy ones.

In Vietnam, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc signed adocument on September 11 urging for proper measures to prevent the disease fromentering Vietnam. Accordingly, all forms of transporting, trading, slaughteringand consuming imported pork products without clear origin are prohibited.

Tighter control was requested at border gates, trails andborder areas while cities and provinces were asked to promptly detect andstrictly punish any case of illegally transporting animals and their productsfrom foreign countries. –VNA