Source: Chris Scott, MEATINGPLACE, 6/26/19


The spread of African Swine Fever (ASF) in Vietnam has affected an industrial farm and prompted the culling of nearly 10% of the nation’s hogs since the first outbreak was reported in February, according to media reports and a United Nations agency.

While ASF outbreaks in Vietnam previously were contained to small farms, the government said the disease spread to a commercial farm with more than 18,000 hogs and has now affected farms in 60 of the country’s 63 provinces, Reuters reported.

Vietnam has culled more than 2.8 million pigs because of ASF, up from 2.5 million a week ago, Reuters said, quoting a government statement. 

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations said the Vietnamese government is providing financial support to pig farmers whose hogs are destroyed because of higher costs or ASF epidemics.

An estimated 75% of Vietnam’s 95 million consumers eat pork, and the government is bracing for the potential spread of ASF as a result of heavy rains, according to Reuters.

Initial ASF outbreaks in China were first reported in August 2018. The disease has since spread in Asia to Cambodia, Korea, Mongolia and Vietnam, according to FAO. In addition, Laos reported its first ASF outbreak in the Toumain District just last week, the agency said.

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