BEIJING - As many as half of China's breeding pigs have either died from African swine fever or been slaughtered because of the spreading disease, twice as many as officially acknowledged, according to the estimates of four people who supply large farms.
Losses are not only from infected pigs dying or being culled, but also farmers sending pigs to market early when the disease is discovered nearby, farmers and industry insiders have told Reuters, which analysts say has kept a lid on pork prices in recent months. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs did not respond to a fax seeking comment on claims of much higher losses than officially reported. It said on June 24 the disease has been "effectively controlled", state news agency Xinhua reported.
"Almost all the pigs here have died," said a farmer in Bobai county in China's southwestern Guangxi region. Guangxi produced more than 33 million pigs in 2017 and is a key supplier to southern China. "One hundred percent of our business was focussed on pigs, half of it is now gone," he said. "That's a disaster for the farmers and the animals."
The virus is so widespread that he has detected it on the surface of a highway in the province, where it can be spread by passing trucks, he added. He used the same test that is widely used to detect the virus in pigs. Hebei has only reported one outbreak - in February this year - but an agriculture ministry survey published online said the sow herd fell by 32% in the first quarter.