ARCHIVE LATEST ASF China situation update

15 March 2019, 17:00 hours; Rome

 

 Overview

Hazard: African swine fever (ASF) is a fatal animal disease affecting pigs and wild boars with up to 100% mortality.
Affected provinces:
China: Anhui, Heilongjiang, Henan, Jilin, Liaoning, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanxi, Yunnan, Hunan and Guizhou, Hubei, Jiangxi, Fujian, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Qinghai, Guangdong, Gansu, Shandong Provinces, Tianjin, Chongqing, Shanghai and Beijing Municipalities, and Inner Mongolia, Ningxia Hui and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Regions.
Mongolia: Bulgan, Darkhan-Uul, Dundgovi, Orkhon, Selenge, Tuv Provinces and Ulaanbaatar.

Viet Nam: Hung Yen, Thai Binh, Thanh Hoa, Ha Nam, Hai Duong, Dien Bien, Hoa Binh, Thai Nguyen, Quang Ninh, Ninh Binh, Nam Dinh, Bac Kan, Lang Son, Nghe An, Son La Provinces, Hai Phong and Ha Noi Cities.

 

 Situation update

China

Since the China Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) confirmed its first African swine fever (ASF) outbreak in Liaoning Province on 3 August 2018, 113 ASF outbreaks detected in 28 Provinces/Autonomous Region / Municipalities. More than 950,000 pigs have been culled in an effort to halt further spread.

 

Sichuan Province: On 10 March, at a Toll station for G65 highway in the south of Linshui County, Guang'an City, Sichuan Province, a pig transport trailer of external origin was seized, which carried 150 pigs within which 9 were dead, and tested positive for ASF virus nucleic acid [reference1, reference2, reference3].

 

Mongolia

Since the Mongolia Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry reported the first ASF outbreak on 15 January 2019, ten ASF outbreaks were reported in six provinces (aimags); the virus was also detected in meat/meat product in Ulaanbaatar City. The outbreaks were in backyard setting; the authority culled all pigs and disinfected the affected areas. A strict movement control has been implemented in control zones restricting even human movement for 14 to 28 days.

 

Viet Nam

Since the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) confirmed its ASF outbreaks on 19 February 2019, a total of 221 ASF outbreaks were reported in 17 provinces/cities, more than 23,400 pigs have been culled. Viet Nam has implemented movement control of pigs and pig products from affected communes; ASF positive farms have been depopulated according to the Emergency response action plan against ASF [reference]. DAH is providing ASF testing at 8 authorized laboratories [reference]. MARD has proposed further control plans [reference].

 

Between 8 and 14 March, ASF outbreaks were reported in: Thai Binh (40 communes), Hung Yen (21), Hai Phong (16), Hai Duong (11), Ha Noi (7), Ha Nam (4), Thanh Hoa (4), Dien Bien (3), Quang Ninh (3), Thai Nguyen (2), Hoa Binh (1), Nam Dinh (1), Ninh Binh (1), Son La (1), Bac Kan (1), Lang Son (1), and Nghe An (1).

 

 

Actions taken by China

 

The Government set a 3 km epidemic zone and a 10 km buffer zone around the epidemic zone. A strict movement control of live pigs was introduced, and live pig markets in infected provinces and adjacent provinces were closed [reference]. Studies showed that 62% of the first 21 ASF events in China were related to swill feeding. Directives on banning swill feeding to pigs and record keeping of livestock transportation vehicles was updated [reference]. Epidemiological studies of 68 outbreaks revealed 3 major causes spread ASF virus: 46% by vehicles and workers without disinfection, 34% by swill feeding, and 19% by transport of live pigs and their products across regions [reference]. As ASF was detected in a wild boar, MARA and Ministry of Natural Resources released a joint notice on “Strengthening the Joint Prevention and Control Work on ASF in domestic pigs and wild boars” [reference]. On 29 January 2019, MARA released the 2019 edition of the ‘ASF Epidemic Emergency Implementation Plan’ [reference]. Looking back the 111 outbreaks MARA pointed out that >60% of outbreaks were detected through investigation and monitoring before causing further economic losses; prompt disposal prevented secondary spread; the proportion of outbreaks caused by live pigs and pork products movement dropped from 35% to 15% through strong movement control; and the proportion of outbreaks caused by swill feeding dropped from 50% to 44% by prohibiting the use of kitchen waste for pig feed [reference]. A dead pig was found on the Lesser Kinmen Island near Shaxibao, Liyu Township, Jinmen County, Taiwan Province of China on 12 March, and tested positive for ASF virus nucleic acid. The location was about 6 km from Xiamen City, China, and very close to the mouth of the Jiulong River. There are no pig farms within a 3 km radius. ASF virus gene was also detected from: La-Zhuer (smoked pig’s ear) brought by a passenger on 1 March from Chengdu City, Sichuan Province via Sichuan Airlines [reference]; and dried pork (produced by Linyi, Shandong Province) brought by a passenger to Kaohsiung Xiaogang Airport on 7 March from Fuzhou Province via Fudong Airlines [reference]. The gene sequence of these samples showed 100% identity with ASF virus elsewhere in China.

 

Table 1. List of affected Cities in China since 3 August 2018

Province	Cities with affected areas	Last reported onset*
Heilongjiang	Suihua City	01/01/2019
Inner Mongolia	Hulun Buir	24/02/2019
Jilin	Baishan City	13/11/2018
Liaoning	Panjin City	15/10/2018
Beijing		04/12/2018
Tianjin		26/11/2018
Hebei	Baoding City	24/02/2019
Shanxi	Jincheng City	27/12/2018
Shanghai		15/11/2018
Jiangsu	Suqian City	06/01/2019
Zhejiang	Taizhou City	18/10/2018
Anhui	Chizhou City	07/11/2018
Fujian	Nanping City	22/12/2018
Jiangxi	Jiujiang City	29/11/2018
Shandong	Jinan City	20/02/2019
Henan	Xinxiang City	10/09/2018
Hubei	Huangshi City	22/11/2018
Hunan	Yongzhou City	08/02/2019
Guangdong	Huizhou City	23/12/2018
Guangxi	Guigang City	07/03/2019
Chongqing		13/12/2018
Sichuan	Guang’an City	10/03/2019
Guizhou	Qiannan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture	18/12/2018
Yunnan	Lishui City	21/02/2019
Shaanxi	Yulin City	28/02/2019
Ningxia	Yinchuan City	11/01/2019
Gansu	Lanzhou City	18/01/2019
Qinghai	Xining City	10/12/2018

* For cases with unknown onset date, detection date or reporting date was used.

 

Table 2. List of affected Cities in Viet Nam since 19 February 2019

Province	Number of communes affected	Last reported onset*
Thai Binh	77	12/03/2019
Hung Yen	32	12/03/2019
Hai Phong	31	12/03/2019
Hai Duong	14	12/03/2019
Ha Noi	10	12/03/2019
Ha Nam	6	12/03/2019
Thanh Hoa	6	10/03/2019
Dien Bien	4	07/03/2019
Thai Nguyen	3	11/03/2019
Quang Ninh	3	11/03/2019
Hoa Binh	2	08/03/2019
Nam Dinh	1	09/03/2019
Ninh Binh	1	09/03/2019
Son La	1	10/03/2019
Bac Kan	1	11/03/2019
Lang Son	1	11/03/2019
Nghe An	1	12/03/2019

* For cases with unknown onset date, detection date or reporting date was used. Source: DAH

 

 FAO’s recommendations

Countries of the region

• Animal disease containment in its broadest sense should be prioritized within the highest levels of governments.
• Preparedness (e.g. contingency planning, standard operating procedures— SOPs, secured financial support) for improved early warning, detection and notification, early reaction, and coordination needs to be in place and reviewed periodically in relation to changing disease situation.
• Application of strict biosecurity measures specific to the different swine producing sectors including frequent cleaning and disinfection of farms, transport vehicles, and improved husbandry practices and production systems.
• Strengthening surveillance and monitoring of transport of live pigs as well as pork products.
• Good communication and coordination with swine producing commercial sector and swine famers are essential to strengthen cooperation in ASF prevention, detection, and control. Awareness and training of all stakeholders, from veterinarians to farmers, intermediaries and other value chain actors is needed.
• Communication to public is to be in place to avoid the rumours leading to food safety perceptions and consumption disruption.
• Farm registries, animal identification and censuses are essential to enable animal health interventions.
• Prohibition of swill feeding where feasible; highly regulated where not.
• Strengthening proper disposal of food waste (food services, airports, seaports), which may contain uncooked pork products.
• Outbreak control strategies must be in place. The strategies need to be developed in consultation with the private sector (pig producers and allied industries, such as transport, feed operators) for improved disease management options and compliance.

National Considerations, Inter-Regional Collaboration and Solidarity

• Strengthening intraregional networks on disease management and diagnostic protocols.
• Understanding pig and pork value chains within the country and with neighbouring countries is essential for improved risk management.

 FAO’s actions

• FAO EMC-AH mission to Viet Nam was initiated this week to assess ASF situation and response strategy.
• FAO Myanmar is advising Veterinary Service on appropriate active surveillance and on laboratory diagnosis. FAO completed an EMC-AH mission to Myanmar to assess ASF preparedness, including laboratory capacity by expert from an OIE/FAO reference laboratory (March 2019).
• FAO deployed an EMC-AH Emergency Response Mission to Mongolia to assess ASF situation.
• FAO deployed an EMC-AH mission to Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to assess ASF preparedness [reference].
• Forthcoming participation at International Symposium on ASF (Beijing, April 2019).
• FAO and MARA jointly organized the Multilateral Cross-Border Meeting in Greater Mekong Subregion to Strengthen Collaboration of Transboundary Animal Disease Control in Beijing, China in November 2018 which included “African Swine Fever Emergency Preparedness training” for Lao PDR, Myanmar, Viet Nam and China [reference].
• On 16 November, FAO-China, Chief/AGAH and CVO met with MARA Vice Minister and senior staff of Veterinary Bureau and China Animal Disease Control Center. A call for solidarity to address the expanding global threat of ASF to the G20 was suggested by Chinese officials [reference].
• In October 2018 and again in February 2019, FAO Chief Veterinary Officer sent a message to CVOs in the region and throughout the world encouraging preparedness and vigilance [reference].
• FAO and MARA jointly held a Technical Consultation on ‘Application of Technology to Strengthen ASF Control through Rapid Detection and Response’ in October 2018 in Beijing, China, with participants from Veterinary Bureau/MARA, China Animal Disease Control Center (CADC), China Animal Health and Epidemiology Center (CAHEC) [reference].
• FAO organized an “Emergency Regional Consultation on African Swine Fever on Risk Reduction and Preparedness” in Bangkok, September 2018 [reference].
• FAO mission to Mongolia and China (April 2018) to explore opportunities in wild boar surveillance.
• FAO publication on ASF spread in Asia (March 2018) and urged regional collaboration including preparedness measures [reference].

Useful links

• African swine fever (ASF) detection and diagnosis. A manual for veterinarians (2017) [English, Русский, 中文]
• Regional strategy for the control of ASF in Africa (FAO, AU-IBAR and ILRI, 2017) [Link]
• Manual on the preparation of African swine fever contingency plans (2001) [Link]
• Rapid risk assessment of ASF introduction into China (Mar 2018) [Link]
• Good Emergency Management Practice: The Essentials [Link]
• Good practices for biosecurity in the pig sector (2010) [Link] 
• ASF awareness video [Link]
• OIE disease card [Link], OIE Manual (2012) [Link], OIE Code [Link], OIE weekly ASF situation reports [Link]
• Global ASF Research Alliance [Link]