Source: Susan Kelly, MEATINGPLACE, 12/27/18


China has found the African swine fever (ASF) virus in protein powder made from pig blood, even after the nation banned its use as a raw material in the production of animal feed, Reuters reported.

China’s customs administration said the raw material for the roughly 74 tonnes of contaminated protein products came from 12 slaughterhouses in Tianjin, the report said. China banned use of food waste and pig blood in feed production in September in an effort to halt the spread of ASF.

The customs administration issued a six-month alert to strengthen testing for the ASF virus in exports of protein products and warned Hong Kong and Macau to check animal feed imports, Reuters said.

New ASF cases around Guangdong Province prompted China earlier this month to halt the shipment of live pigs to Hong Kong and Macau from 18 affected farms.

However, China has loosened rules on the transport of breeder pigs within the country after farmers stopped replenishing herds,

Reuters said in a new report on Thursday, citing a posting from the nation’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
China has reported more than 90 cases of ASF since August.

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