Story By: John Feng, Sub-Editor:  Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report

A new cluster of the deadly African swine fever virus has emerged in China amid the coronavirus pandemic after officials reported 64 new pig deaths at the weekend.

The virus which causes African swine fever is responsible for the deaths of more than half of China’s hog population in the last 18 months, with some 300 million pigs believed to have died or been culled to stop the spread.

China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said 64 hogs had died on a farm in Yunyang County, in south-western Chongqing Municipality, where 298 specimens had been purchased from another province, reportedly illegally.

The statement on Sunday (5th April) came just four days after two clusters of the virus were reported in north-western Gansu Province.

Officials said the latest outbreak had been “contained”, and that an investigation is under way.

African swine fever is harmless to humans but deadly to hogs, decimating China’s hugely lucrative pork industry ever since the disease was first discovered in August 2018.

Despite a ban on pig transport, the virus spread throughout mainland China, causing skyrocketing pork prices which some analysts believed could even threaten Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s position in power as the public faced the prospect of spending Chinese New Year 2020 without the staple foodstuff.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has shifted attention away from African swine fever, but experts say it will take “years” for China’s pork industry to recover.

In December last year, research by China Agricultural University in Beijing estimated the hog disease had already cost the country 113 billion GBP.

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