Dim Sums: Agricultural Markets in China

China reported an outbreak of African swine fever in Guangxi Province, the first officially reported in 3 years. The outbreak sickened 215 pigs and killed 209 in 4 villages of Guangxi's Nopo County, a remote mountainous area bordering Vietnam. The 4 villages affected have a population of just 795 pigs. According to the report, authorities have taken the usual measures to control the disease by instituting quarantines, disinfecting premises, and taking other preventive measures. Authorities say the disease risk is under control.  According to the announcement, distribution of live pigs is being tightly controlled in parts of the province. Controls were especially tight during June and July near Guangxi's port cities of Fangcheng and Qinzhou when pigs are likely to be imported from Vietnam. Reuters reported last week that Vietnam has had 100,000 pigs infected with ASF in 972 outbreaks this year, up from 30,000 infections during the same period last year.  This month's outbr...

Vietnam has a vaccine for African swine fever (ASF). China does not.  ASF is a virus that spreads quickly and causes hemorrhaging and death in most infected pigs. ASF first jumped from Europe to China in 2018. Then the virus jumped over the Chinese border to Vietnam within months after it had reached China. Swine herds were decimated in both countries.  Scientists in Europe and elsewhere had been working on ASF vaccines for many years. Yet by early 2020--about 18 months after the country's first outbreaks--China's Harbin Veterinary Institute  said it had developed a vaccine for ASF  that was safe and effective. The vaccine was a live attenuated vaccine created by deleting genes from the virus. The Institute bragged on its web site:  “The vaccine is currently the most promising vaccine for industrial application and will provide important technical means for the effective prevention and control of African Swine Fever in China and related countries.”  Four mo...