African Swine Fever: Quarantines Lifted, New Cases, Bad Behavior

China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has lifted lockdowns on swine movements in three districts where African Swine Fever was discovered in early August, but new cases have appeared elsewhere. About a dozen local officials, traders and farm managers have been arrested or investigated for knowingly selling infected animals and falsifying health certificates. New incidents reveal that pigs are routinely shipped long distances, increasing the chances that the virus may be spreading far and wide.

On September 29 the Ministry lifted a ban on movement of pigs from Shenyang (Liaoning Province), having found no further presence of African Swine Fever after six weeks of surveillance. Bans were lifted on September 30 for Zhengzhou (Henan Province), and October 3 for Lianyungang (Jiangsu Province).

One September 28, new cases of ASF were confirmed on a small farm of 44 pigs in Jilin Province's Songyuan City, Changling County--8 pigs were sickened and 3 died. On the same day, an outbreak was confirmed on five farms holding 378 pigs (102 died) in Yingkou, a port city in Liaoning Province 2 hours south of Shenyang. A second outbreak in Yingkou was confirmed October 7 on a farm holding 3358 pigs (334 were sickened and 93 died).

On September 28, authorities in Shanxi Province's Pingyao County (about 1,250 km from Shenyang) said they discovered the ASF virus in pork from pigs transported from Liaoning Province. County officials said they found no evidence of the virus in local pigs. In Shanxi's Jiexiu City there were also rumors that pork infected with ASF was found in a food shop, but this does not appear to have been confirmed by testing. The Ministry has not announced the Shanxi cases.

On October 8, Jiexiu City issued a notice calling for culling pigs fed on waste from restaurants, hotels and cafeterias to prevent spread of disease.
Update: On October 9, MARA announced a new case of ASF confirmed on a 360-pig farm in Liaoning, Anshan City, Tai'an County, 160 were sickened and 160 died.

On September 29, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs announced that farmers and traders had transported diseased hogs and some local officials had issued fraudulent health certificates and failed to adequately monitor the virus. The Ministry listed six cases under investigation and warned officials to properly carry out their duties.

• On August 11, the manager of a breeding farm and a hog trader in Heilongjiang Province's Jiamusi City transported a load of 253 hogs infected with the ASF virus to a Shuanghui processing plant in Henan Province's Zhengzhou. Veterinary officials provided false certificates and ear tags. 
• On July 30, a load of 248 hogs were transported from Jilin province's Siping City to a slaughter facility in Zhucheng, Shandong Province. A veterinary official at a highway checkpoint in Lishu county of Jilin illegally issued a health certificate. 
• In June, a farmer in Jun'nan District of Shenyang purchased 100 piglets from a trader in Jilin Province. After some died of disease, the farmer sold 45 pigs to another farmer in Shenyang New District. These pigs were the first ASF case reported on August 2. 
• In Shenyang's Faku County, two officials issued animal health certificates outside their region of responsibility, making it difficult to trace the virus.
• In Anhui Province, Xuanzhou City, one veterinary official was criticized for failing to shut down an illegal slaughterhouse and a second official issued false health certificates. 
• On September 20, a farmer in Tongliao, Inner Mongolia allegedly bribed a veterinary official to issue a health certificate for 96 pigs transported from Tieling in Liaoning Province to a slaughterhouse in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. Four of the pigs had symptoms and two died.

In addition to the ASF cases, officials in Chongqing discovered two truckloads of pigs infected with the Type-O foot and mouth disease (FMD) virus. On September 21, inspectors at a highway checkpoint in Chongqing found three pigs infected with Type-O FMD in a truck that originated in Guangdong Province's Maoming City, a 16-hour drive. The same day, officials at the checkpoint found an FMD-infected pig on a truck coming from Qujing in Yunnan Province, a 10-hour drive in a different direction.