African swine fever has yet to be found in Canada and a $45 million investment by the federal government announced late last month is hoping to keep it that way to prevent devastating impacts to the hog industry. “It all comes back to the preparation and prevention of ASF,” said Gary Stordy, spokesperson for the […] Read more
Tag Archives African swine fever — page 3
Indirect disease spread remains big risk
Much has been learned about managing the risk of spreading animal diseases such as African swine fever through feed, says an associate professor in the feed science program at Kansas State University. “There’s potential feed mill contamination of pathogens through people, trucks and ingredients,” Chad Paulk told participants at the recent Animal Nutrition Conference of […] Read more
Swine fever discussions continue
African swine fever doesn’t mind whether it infects farms in small outdoor herds or big barns. The virus thrives in any type of pig, so producers with operations of any size need to work together to head off the threat before it gets into the province, the Manitoba Pork Council annual meeting heard. Cam Dahl, […] Read more
Chinese feed demand soars in aftermath of ASF
African swine fever saw the replacement of backyard producers with large hog operations, which produce their own feed
A hog disease that was once considered a major threat has turned into a boon for the feedgrain industry. China’s grain-based feed demand is soaring in the wake of African swine fever, a disease epidemic that wiped out millions of pigs in the country in 2018-19. Feed use reached 293 million tonnes in 2021, based […] Read more
Wild boar cull key to fight African swine fever in Germany – minister
HAMBURG, Dec 16 (Reuters) – Cutting the numbers of wild boar will be critical in combating the pig disease African swine fever (ASF) in Germany, the country’s newly-appointed junior agriculture minister said on Thursday. Germany is also in talks with the European Union about financial support for farmers who give up pig production in regions […] Read more
Russia reports swine fever outbreak at one of Miratorg’s sites
MOSCOW, Sept 27 (Reuters) – Russia has reported an outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) at a site of the country’s largest pork producer Miratorg in the Belgorod region in the central Russia, the agriculture safety watchdog said in a statement on Monday. Spread partly by wild boars, ASF is harmless to human beings but […] Read more
China’s sow herd shrunk last month
BEIJING, China (Reuters) — China’s sow herd declined for the first time in nearly two years, contracting 0.5 percent in July from the previous month, state media said, after a plunge in hog prices pushed many farmers to get rid of unproductive sows. In year-on-year terms, however, it was still up 25 percent, according to […] Read more
Vaccines not best option for ASF
In the last three years, the African swine fever virus has killed millions of pigs and forced producers to cull tens of millions of pigs in China, Vietnam, Eastern Europe and elsewhere. In late July, the deadly virus was detected in the Dominican Republic; the first time it’s been in the Americas in four decades. […] Read more
African swine fever spreads in Dominican
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (Reuters) — The Dominican Republic will slaughter tens of thousands of pigs after detecting outbreaks of African swine fever in 14 of the country’s 32 provinces, authorities said last week. Fernando Duran, administrator of the state-run Banco Agricola, told a news conference the government will pay pig farmers the market price […] Read more
ASF discovery is a terrible shock, but it may be needed
Why don’t we prepare for disasters even when we can see ourselves sailing toward the iceberg?That’s a psychological mystery we won’t resolve any time soon, but perhaps we can gain some relief from its flip-side: when we face a shock, we jump into action. The news that African swine fever has appeared in the Western […] Read more
