Hog farmers and feed companies are being urged to take precautions against African Swine Fever, a highly-contagious and deadly disease that is hitting hog farms in China and wild boar populations in Europe.
As of Wednesday this week, China has confirmed that a 10th region, Shanxi province, has reported African swine fever in a domestic herd.
Since the first cases emerged in Liaoning province in early August tens of thousands of pigs have been culled and trade restrictions have been set to prevent the spread of the virus.
China has banned imports of pigs, wild boar and pork products from Belgium, Bulgaria, Japan and Moldova, as ASF cases emerged in these countries, reports news agency Reuters.
ASF cases continue to hit the headlines in China: four new cases were reported in Liaoning within a few days of each other, one of which occurred on a 19,938-head farm, one on a 1,571-head farm and another in a city-based, 161-head herd.
Now that the virus has begun to hit larger farms, there is fear is that the virus might be out of control, reports PigSite, an online news service.
In Europe, dozens of ASF-infected wild boar have been found dead in rural Luxembourg , and the Belgian government has endorsed pre-emptive culls in the contaminated zone, to prevent the virus reaching larger domestic herds.
The capacity of wild boar to rapidly travel large distances and negotiate difficult terrain has also worried other countries in the region, sparking a number of trade sanctions and containment measures.
For example, France recently announced plans to build a fence along its border with Belgium.
South Korea and China have banned all pig, boar and pork product imports from Belgian suppliers.
