Dead pig infected with African swine fever washes ashore in Taiwan
- Carcass found floating near island close to Fujian province as mainland reports fresh outbreak of disease
- Country could lose up to 200 million pigs to epidemic as it sweeps through the nation’s herds
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The mainland’s swine herd has been devastated by the outbreak of the disease, first reported by the government in August last year.
An update on the crisis from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations dated Thursday said the dead pig was found floating on November 6 near Taiwan’s Xiaojinmen Island – also known as Lieyu – close to the mainland province of Fujian.
It said the pig tested positive for the same strain of swine fever that had unleashed havoc in mainland China.
The FAO said this was the first floating dead pig reported since June, and pointed out that the last reported outbreak in Fujian was last December.
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The report also documented that a vehicle illegally transporting infected piglets across provinces was intercepted earlier this month on an expressway in the southwestern municipality of Chongqing.
There was also a fresh outbreak in China’s southwestern Yunnan province this month, the FAO said, totalling 163 outbreaks in 32 provinces and regions.
Beijing has been battling to get a grip on the crisis, which has sent pork prices soaring.
Around one million pigs have been killed since the first outbreak of swine fever, according to official statistics, but that is widely considered to be an underestimate.
One pig farmer said last month that some affected farmers were quietly selling or disposing of dead pigs rather than declaring them to the government.
A Rabobank report has warned that the country could lose 200 million pigs during the epidemic.
Prices of pork – which is the staple meat in China – have more than doubled in the past year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
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Data last week showed the country’s consumer prices grew at their fastest rate in almost eight years in October, driven by a spike in pork prices.
The mainland’s top economic planner said on Friday that it would release frozen pork reserves to the market at “an appropriate time”.
Beijing would also step up efforts to boost hog production through central budget support, Meng Wei of the National Development and Reform Commission said, according to state news agency Xinhua.
The UN has also documented cases of swine fever in neighbouring Asian countries, including three new cases among wild pigs in South Korea.
