ASF virus puts Asia food security under threat
The spread of African Swine Fever in Asia is putting the food security in the region under threat, says French expert. Francois Roger, an animal epidemiologist at the French Agricultural Research Center for International Development in Montpellier, thinks that Vietnam and Cambodia do not have the ability to deal with the disease, informs Science Magazine.
"The virus will soon surface in Myanmar and Laos due to weak veterinary infrastructures and surveillance systems,", explained Roger, who believes that there is a strong possibility that the disease may become endemic in Southeast Asia. If so, it would pose a continuing threat of reintroduction into China, even if that country succeeds in controlling its own outbreaks, he mentioned.
The ASF threat to food security in Asia is also taken into consideration by other experts. "This is probably the most serious animal health disease the world has had for a long time, if not ever", commented Dirk Pfeiffer, a veterinary epidemiologist at the City University of Hong Kong.
China is expected to lose 10 to 20% of its national pig inventory this year, according to estimates coming from FAO, USDA, and Rabobank, while Vietnam is also reporting worrisome figures: 1.2 million pigs culled or killed by the disease in only three months since the first outbreak was reported in the country.
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