African swine fever, a disease that has killed tens of millions of pigs, has resurfaced in several Asian countries this year, with governments struggling to anticipate the spread.
China, Vietnam and Malaysia have documented cases of the disease that has already devastated livestock populations in the region, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.
So far, the new cases are isolated, but the resurgence of the virus, which is not known to cause harm to humans, is raising concerns about another potential meat shortage.
China, where half the world’s pigs live, has found cases in Hebei, Henan, Sichuan, Yunnan and Xinjiang, according to Bloomberg. Beijing has promised to stop illegal vaccines for the virus, which have been linked to the recent outbreaks.
The resurgence threatens the country’s goals, the hardest hit by swine fever since its first outbreak in 2018, of achieving full recovery of the pig herd by the middle of this year. Economic experts are monitoring the number of pigs in China to determine the country’s need for imported grains and meat.
In Vietnam, about 2,000 pigs were euthanized by the end of February, while more than 20 regions documented new cases, Bloomberg reported, citing the Ministry of Agriculture. The country had lost nearly 6 million pigs in 2019, when the disease hit herds. Vietnam hopes to have its official virus vaccine ready this summer.
Malaysia confirmed its first case of African swine fever last month, prompting the government to announce that 3,000 pigs will be euthanized in the state of Sabah. The state government reportedly said on Sunday that, although the virus was found in other districts, commercial pig farms have not experienced outbreaks.