Swine Fever Virus In Vietnam; Pork Prices Rising In France

Three from Reuters:
May 26
Vietnam swine fever cull surges, 1.7 million pigs dead

Vietnam culled a further 500,000 pigs over the past two weeks to tackle an oubreak of African swine fever, taking the total killed so far to 1.7 million, or 5% of the country’s herd, the agriculture ministry said on Monday.

Pork accounts for three-quarters of total meat consumption in Vietnam, a country of 95 million people where most of its 30 million farm-raised pigs are consumed domestically.

The virus, first detected in the Southeast Asian country in February, has spread to 42 of the country’s 63 provinces, the agriculture ministry’s Livestock Production Department said in a statement on its website....MORE

May 23
African swine fever threatens French deli meats producers

French deli meats makers are being squeezed by a surge in pork prices linked to an African swine fever epidemic that has decimated the pig herd in China, they said on Thursday, warning of potential bankruptcies in the sector. 

African swine fever, a highly contagious virus, has spread to every province on the Chinese mainland since August last year, killing millions of animals and prompting China - the world’s biggest pork producer - to turn to imports earlier this year.

In a knock-on effect, French live pork prices have gained 24% since early March, with a rise of as much as 30% for some ingredients used in making deli meats like saucisson, cooked ham and dry-cured ham, making it hard for producers to pass such price rises on to clients, industry association FICT said....MORE

Finally, May 24:
China says making progress on African swine fever vaccine

China will start work on clinical trials of an African swine fever vaccine, state media said on Friday, as the disease continues to spread through the world’s biggest hog herd. 

State-owned Harbin Veterinary Research Institute has found two vaccine candidates, proven in laboratory tests to offer immunity to the disease, China National Radio said in a post on China’s microblogging site Weibo.

“In the next step, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences will accelerate the progress of pilot and clinical trials, as well as vaccine production,” said the report.

However, scientists who work on animal vaccines have sounded a note of caution, saying that developing and launching an effective vaccine would be difficult....MORE