ASF Vietnam: Outbreaks getting worse again
African Swine Fever has been hitting Vietnam badly late July and early August. The number of infected pigs tripled in just 2 weeks, according to the country’s state media. International press agency Reuters reported about the latest developments.
The news agency quotes the Vietnamese paper Tien Phong, saying that the country has detected 972 ASF outbreaks so far this year, whereas mid-July that was just 514.
The number of pigs infected has risen to more than 100,000 from 30,000 over the same period, the paper said, citing Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). All infected pigs have died or have been culled.
“Seriously affecting supply of pork”
Nguyen Xuan Duong, chairman of the Animal Husbandry Association of Vietnam, was quoted saying, “ASF has broken out on a very large scale, spreading across the country, seriously affecting the livestock industry, especially the supply of pork.” He added that no province is safe from the disease.
Vietnam’s prime minister Pham Minh Chinh sent an urgent directive to provinces and government agencies to deploy measures to curb the disease, which the government said was threatening to disrupt food supplies.
Vietnam was the first country to introduce an ASF vaccine that has been in commercial use since 2023, yet officials said the vaccination rate was low due to concerns about costs and efficiency. Duong was quoted to say, “Vaccination is just a supporting tool that cannot replace basic prevention measures.”
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