ASF means the world could lose 25% of its pig population
01/11/2019
The vice-president of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), Dr Mark Schipp, has said the ongoing spread of African swine fever (ASF) represents “the biggest threat to commercial livestock of our generation”.
At a press conference at the end of October, the Paris-based organisation suggested the disease could lead to the slaughter of 25% of the global pig population.
ASF was detected in Zambia and South Africa in 2018. According to OIE figures, the total number of ASF outbreaks ongoing worldwide at the moment is 9,402, with cases in Europe and Asia as well as Africa.
Dr Schipp that the spread of the disease to China, which has approximately half of the world’s total pig population had turned the problem into a global crisis.
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