Testing identified the highly-contagious and deadly disease for pigs during testing of 152 samples gathered at airports and mail processing centres.
There have been no reports of the disease affecting any of Australia’s herds.
Australia has 2,500 farmers who raise hogs and 36,000 workers in the pork supply chain, according to Australian Pork Ltd.
Over the weekend, China reported another outbreak killed 13 pigs in a herd of 57 in Ningxia province, the first outbreak there are now the 25thprovince hit by the disease.
While Australia’s findings clearly demonstrate the risks associated with importing pork from China, officials say the biggest risk is people travelling to and from China.
I think it would be wise to prohibit anybody who has been in China within the last year to set foot on a Canadian hog farm.
