Hanoi (VNA) – Given the complexity ofAfrican swine fever (ASF) outbreaks in neighbouring country China, the Ministryof Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has said that the disease is athigh risk of entering Vietnam.

The soaring trade and transport of pigs, as well asabundant supplies of pork of unknown origins and smuggled pork products,particularly in the northern provinces that border Chinese localities, duringthe end of 2018 and just before the Lunar New Year holiday earlier this month lieat the root of the problem.

Daily travels between Vietnam and its neighbouringnations, as well as the large number of international visitors to the countryalso add further concern to the issue. Many Asian passengers have the habit ofbringing food, which may contain pork, during their travels, which poses a riskof introducing the disease to Vietnam, as has happened to the Republic ofKorea, Japan, and Thailand.  

As pork prices were high during the end of last year, profit-mindedbusinessmen were involved in trading and distributing pigs which were ill,dead, or had unclear origins.  

The MARD said most pig farms in Vietnam are of a smallscale with a high density and often fail to meet hygiene standards. Thesituation, coupled with the unfavorable cold, rainy weather, has created abreeding ground for the disease to spread, it added.

The ASF virus does not affect humans but does causehaemorrhagic fever in pigs and wild boars that is almost always fatal. There isno antidote or vaccine, and the only known preventative measure is a mass cullof infected livestock. The disease spreads by contact between infected pigs orother wild animals and can inflict massive economic damage on farms.

In prevention of the virus, since August 2018, theMARD has organised inter-sector working teams to visit and inspect high-risklocalities like Hanoi, Lang Son, Quang Ninh, Lao Cai, and Hoa Binh.

The PM has banned the transport, trade, slaughtering,and distribution of pork products that are smuggled, suspected of beingsmuggled, or come from unknown origins. The illegal transport of animals andanimal products from other countries into Vietnam faces strict punishment,while border routes connecting Vietnam with ASF-infected nations are tightlymonitored.

According to the World Organisation for Animal Health(OIE), between 2017 and February 18, 2019, 20 countries and regions havesuffered from the ASF, with over 1.08 million pigs culled. A total of 105outbreaks were discovered in China from August 3, 2018 to February 18, 2019,resulting in the termination of 950,000 pigs, while one dead pig was foundpositive of the ASF virus in Taiwan on January 17, 2019. –VNA