China warns about illegal vaccines against ASF
China officials are worried about the effect that illegal vaccines against African Swine Fever (ASF) can have on spreading the disease. In a statement released at the beginning of the week, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs mentioned that hat it had yet to approve any vaccine and that the makers of the drugs would be banned from producing any vaccine in China if caught, informs AgriCensus.
"As of now, countries around the world including China have not yet approved an African swine fever vaccine to be sold in the market. They are all illegal vaccines", officials from the Ministry of Agriculture explained.
In their opinion, pig-breeders or farm industries that use vaccines against African swine fever could be responsible for spreading the disease further. Over the past few months, several vaccines have reportedly been found in the Chinese market, raising fears that they could lead to further outbreaks of the disease.
Activities involving producing, selling and using one of those vaccines are “serious illegal conduct” and individuals or companies who were involved in such activities will be “banned for life”, the ministry said.
In the last 12 months, China was confronted with more than 140 ASF outbreaks and that has caused the size of China’s pig herd to fall nearly 33% in July this year compared to the same month last year. Last month, the average price for pork in China was $4.41/kg, an all-time high that forced the government to release meat reserves in the market. Analysts are predicting a decline of 50% in the Chinese pig herd by the end of the year.
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