China reports new ASF outbreak in Gansu province
China's agriculture ministry have announced today (18 January) that a new African swine fever outbreak was confirmed in the northwestern province of Gansu.
The outbreak occurred on a farm with 190 live pigs in the city of Lanzhou, infecting 143 of the animals and killing 37, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in a statement
China has already reported around 100 outbreaks of the disease in 24 provinces and cities since August. The disease is deadly to hogs, but does not affect people.
Clinical signs of ASF
General signs:
- High fever 40-42°C.
- Loss of appetite.
- Depression.
- Vomiting and/or diarrhoea.
- White skinned pigs: extremities (nose, ears, tail and lower legs) become cyanotic (blue-purple colour).
- Discrete haemorrhages appear in the skin particularly on the ears and flanks.
- Group will huddle together and are usually shivering.
- Abnormal breathing.
- Heavy discharge from eyes and/or nose.
- Lethargic- sometimes refusal to stand or move.
- Very unsteady when stood up.
- Comatose state and death within a few days.
Pregnant sows commonly undergo miscarriage or deliver stillborn piglets that are malformed – piglets can be tested for the virus.
Steps for prevention
- Do not feed domestic pigs food waste; this is illegal in the UK, other EU regions and some states within the US. Where ‘permitted garbage feeding’ is legal in US states, pigs fed this way are prohibited from exportation.
- Do not leave food waste exposed for wild swine species to access. Dispose of food waste properly.
- Abide by strict biosecurity rules. Do not take pig meat onto farms, or restrict all food (and consumption of food) to a canteen. All staff on farm should be inducted onto a strict programme of hand and equipment sanitisation before and after contact with pigs.
- Follow rules and regulations on disposal of food waste at ferry ports and airports.
- Provide the means for staff and visitors to thoroughly sanitise their hands and equipment.
- Ensure that wild boar, warthogs and wild pigs, and materials potentially contaminated by such wild species do not come into contact with domestic pigs.
- Check infected regions before import of goods that could potentially be contaminated.
- Advise and educate people on the risks of bringing back pork products from infected regions.
