Page 19 - Australian Pork Newspaper

AFRICAN SWINE FEVER UPDATE
Vietnam culls two million pigs and urges whole nation to fight swine fever
African swine fever summit brings together industry experts in Adelaide
AUSTRALIAN Pork Limited hosted an Af- rican swine fever sum- mitonMay3atthe Science Exchange in Adelaide, with Aus- tralian chief veteri- nary officer Dr Mark Schipp chairing the summit.
The event brought to- gether each of the state and territory chief vet- erinary officers, other government representa- tives, private vets and others in the pork sup- ply chain.
A range of presenta- tions set the existing situation and activities, and covered the im- port pathway risks, the international situation on the spread of ASF, diagnostic and regional perspectives and state and territory prepared-
ness and extension pro- grams.
APL, the Australian Pig Vet Group, state farming organisations and the Stock Feed Manufacturers’ Council of Australia also dis- cussed the activities be- ing undertaken by each sector.
The day concluded with a facilitated risk analysis session to iden- tify any gaps and op- portunities stakehold- ers can exploit, and a prioritisation of further
activities and co-ordi- nated plans.
A summary of the event will be published on APL’s website and in the weekly Commu- nique.
The unedited video recording of the event is available on APL’s YouTube channel titled ‘ASF Summit 3rd May 2019’.
Search for Australian Pork Limited and select the Videos tab.
The description sec- tion outlines the speak- ers/sessions and video time should you only wish to review certain presentations.
For any questions please contact Deb Kerr, General Manager Policy on 02 6270 8803 or deb.kerr@australian pork.com.au
VIETNAM said on May 31 it had culled two mil- lion pigs in a bid to curb an outbreak of deadly African swine fever and called on the en- tire nation to join the fight against the rapidly spreading disease.
The ASF virus had spread to 48 of the coun- try’s 63 provinces, agri- culture minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong said at a meeting of parliament, upping the number of pigs culled from 1.7 million less than a week prior.
Pork accounts for three- quarters of total meat con- sumption in Vietnam, a country of 95 million peo- ple where most of its 30 million farm-raised pigs are consumed domesti- cally.
“This is an extremely dangerous disease... and we have to take the fight
seriously,” Cuong said. “The whole political system has to get engaged
in the fight.”
Cuong also called on
local consumers not to turn their back on pork consumption and encour- aged businesses to stock- pile pork in anticipation of shortages in the second half of the year.
“We shouldn’t expand the pig herd at the mo- ment, but instead, shift the focus on expanding cattle, poultry and aquaculture production,” he said.
Vietnam’s pork industry is valued at about 94 tril- lion dong ($US4 billion), accounting for nearly 10 percent of the country’s agricultural sector.
Cuong said the outbreak is threatening to expand to the rest of the country as the virus remains dormant in the environment for a
long time and can spread through complex and var- ied means.
African swine fever was first detected in Asia last August in China, the world’s largest pork pro- ducer, where Rabobank has estimated up to 200 million pigs could be culled or die.
Other analysts do not ex- pect such a large impact.
South Korea also said on May 31 the disease has
been detected in North Korea near its border with China.
Earlier this month, Vi- etnam said it will mobi- lise its military and police forces to help combat the outbreak.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Or- ganization in March ad- vised Vietnam to declare the swine fever outbreak as a national emergency.
South Korea ramps up disinfection as first case of swine fever detected in the North
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SOUTH Korea will boost disinfection measures to prevent an outbreak of African swine fever from spreading to its pig herd after the disease was found in North Korea, the agriculture ministry an- nounced on May 31.
There is no vaccine for the highly contagious dis- ease that is fatal to pigs but does not affect hu- mans.
It spread rapidly across China after being detect- ed there last August, and has also been reported in Vietnam.
According to the latest Reuters report, the North’s outbreak was confirmed onMay25atafarminits province of Jagang near the border with China, South Korea’s agriculture ministry said in a state- ment, with more than 20 hogs culled and more than 70 dead from the virus.
Agriculture ministry di- rector general Oh Soon- min said, “There is a pos- sibility the virus could spread to the South and we plan to carry out extra disinfection measures.”
Measures will include stepping up disinfection in areas near the shared border, the ministry said.
South Korea’s unifica- tion ministry said it would make use of a liaison of- fice with its reclusive neighbour to work out de- tailed protection measures with the North.
Pork, cheaper than beef, is a popular meat in South Korea, which had about 11.2 million pigs in the first quarter, data from Statistics Korea shows.
North Korea has not confirmed the swine fever outbreak, but the state-run Rodong Sinmun newspa- per on May 31 carried three articles on the risks posed by the virus and its rapid spread.
However, South Korea’s agriculture ministry said its neighbour had reported the outbreak to the Paris- based World Organisation for Animal Health on May 30 and took steps to con- trol its spread, including disinfection.
Lack of prevention ca- pability
The North’s outbreak comes as it grapples with food shortages, when four in 10 citizens are going hungry after the worst harvest in a decade, the United Nations said re- cently.
UN Food and Agri- culture Organisation in China and North Korea Vincent Martin said, “The food and nutrition inse- curity situation in North Korea is worrying and the African swine fever outbreak puts additional pressure on the availabil- ity of proteins of animal origin.”
Kwon Tae-jin of the GSnJ Institute said the North’s pork consumption
had increased recently as leader Kim Jong Un pushed to increase meat supply.
“The outbreak will mainly affect the elite because not every North Korean can easily eat pork or other types of meat,” he said.
“The biggest concern is lack of sanitary and pre- vention capability.”
North Korea raises mainly chicken, ducks and rabbits, but its pig population in 2017 rose 8.9 percent to 2.6 million, according to Statistics Korea.
South Korean pork pro- ducers worry that wild boars near the border could carry in the virus, hitting pig farms.
Korea Pork Producers’ Association official Oh Yu-hwan said, “Preven- tion is the best way to counter the virus.”
“The government should step up controlling wild boars, otherwise it could threaten the foundation of the industry.”
The government plans to build more fences to protect farm animals from wild boars and relax rules on hunting them,
the ministry said. However, the aver-
age retail price of pork belly changed little in South Korea, standing at $US1.57/100g on May 30 from $US1.56 a year ear- lier, data from state-run Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp shows.
Shares of South Korean animal medicine sup- pliers, Eagle Veterinary Technology and Cheil Bio rallied as much as 23 percent and 16 percent, respectively, while those of animal feed maker Woosung Feed jumped more than 12 percent.
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Australian Pork Newspaper, June 2019 – Page 19