China has
issued new rules to tighten notification of cases of African swine fever,
including incentives for whistleblowers, amid concerns that not all outbreaks
of the highly-contagious disease are being reported.
There
have been more than 60 outbreaks in 18 provinces since early August, despite quarantines
and culling of hundreds of thousands of pigs.
"The
sites that have reported outbreaks are not in succession. They just abruptly
emerge," he said.
It
is also accepted that the disease entered China well before the first reported
outbreak, said Pan Chenjun, senior analyst at Rabobank.
The
bans on transport include registration requirements for trucks carrying live
animals. They must also carry tracking devices.
However
the rules have been broken and some pigs have been illegally transported and
sold.
There has
also been the worrisome discovery of a wild boar with the virus.