As many as 155 communes across 20 cities and provinces nationwide have been confirmed to have fresh outbreaks of the African swine fever, with over 4,000 pigs killed as a result of the disease, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Pigs infected with the African swine fever are forced to be culled
in Thanh Binh commune of Chuong My district in Hanoi. (Photo: Tat Dinh) 

In an official letter sent to cities and provinces nationwide on May 26, the ministry stated that there remains a high risk of the epidemic spreading widely and seriously affecting the re-breeding of pig herds along with the supply of pork.

Local administrations have therefore been requested to establish working groups, with technical staff being sent to outbreak areas in order to handle and prevent epidemics from spreading further, in addition to controlling the transportation and trade of pigs in both farms and slaughterhouses. 

According to the Department of Animal Health, the main reason for the re-occurrence of outbreaks of the African swine fever is that many farmers have reared their herds from piglets of unknown origin which have been purchased from markets or traders.

In total, 20 localities across the country are confirmed to have been hit by fresh cases of the African swine fever. They include Hanoi, Lang Son, Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Tuyen Quang, Bac Ninh, Quang Ninh, Lao Cai, Son La, Hoa Binh, Phu Tho, Ninh Binh, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Nam, Dak Lak, Dak Nong, and Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

The initial outbreak of the African swine fever began in February 2019, with the epidemic spreading to 63 cities and provinces nationwide. Approximately 6 million pigs weighing a total of nearly 340,000 tonnes have been culled, accounting for 8% of the country’s output of pork meat.

The decline of output has seen the price of pork skyrocket since the end of 2019, with even the price of live pigs reaching VND103,000 per kilogram.