Continued decline in China's pig herd
27th Aug 2019 / By Rebecca Veale
Commentators have calculated that China’s pig and sow inventory has each decreased by around 32% in the 12 months from July 2018 – although some estimate this to be higher (Genusus).
These figures equate to about 140 million pigs, 60 million of which have gone in the last five months which is a loss of over 10 million pigs per month. The decline in pig numbers in China is almost equal to all the pigs in Europe.
Since the first occurrence in the country (August 1, 2018), 156 outbreaks have been reported in 31 different provinces, from which 103 have been resolved. Currently, 53 outbreaks in 17 different provinces are still ongoing in China.
But the decline won’t be stopping yet, ASF is highly transmissible disease and the measures in place have not yet halted the spread within China and to neighbouring countries. China has prevented imported from other South East Asian countries that have been affected by ASF, and they have put in place their ASF Epidemic Emergency Implementation Plan. Regulations for pig slaughterhouses have been updated and tasks them to conduct self-inspection by using PCR testing. If ASF is detected, the slaughtering enterprise should stop production for 48 hours, then apply for evaluation to resume production.