Some swine fever risks remain

Yu Kangzhen, vice-minister of agriculture and rural affairs, said on Wednesday that controlling the spread of African swine fever remains a complex task.

Since the first case of the disease, which is fatal to pigs but doesn't affect humans, was discovered in Liaoning province in August 2018, China has reported a total of 162 outbreaks, affecting 31 provincial-level regions.

All quarantines have been lifted in affected regions in China except for one virus-stricken area in Yunnan province, he said.

"The disease has invaded large swaths of the country, so it is predicted that sporadic cases will continue to occur in the future," Yu said.

Seasonal risk factors will compound the difficulty of fighting the disease. Yu said that winter and spring generally see more animal diseases, including African swine fever. The chance of a fresh outbreak will also increase because hog production has rebounded and shipments of live hogs and pork products will become more frequent ahead of Spring Festival.

"Preventing and controlling the disease is likely to be the biggest task in the recovery of hog production in China," he said.

To deal with risks, the ministry recently launched an online training program targeting all breeding farmers and local officers in charge of animal disease prevention and control. The program aims to boost bio-safety.

So far, China has implemented a series of measures to prevent the disease from spreading.