The spread of African Swine Fever (ASF) potentially is the biggest global animal health story that no one is talking about much. But agriculture industry analysts believe it’s a story that should receive a fair hearing from industry stakeholders as China, the world’s largest producer and consumer of pork, battles outbreaks of ASF within its borders.

South Africa’s North West Rural, Environment and Agricultural Development Department on Friday dispatched a team of veterinarians and animal health technicians to deal with the case of African Swine Fever (ASF) reported in Doornhoek farm near Lichtenburg Town, African Daily Voice has learnt.

Animal health is increasingly becoming a key issue in South Africa. This year we’ve had cases of foot-and-mouth disease in the beef industry, and African swine fever in the pork industry.

South-east Asia is battling to contain the spread of highly contagious African swine fever, known as “pig Ebola”, which has already led to the culling of millions of pigs in China and Vietnam.

What is African swine fever? ASF is a highly contagious viral pig disease. The most common symptoms of the virus in its acute form are a high temperature and loss of appetite; other symptoms include vomiting, diarrhoea, and difficulty with breathing and standing.

 Vietnam said  it has had initial success in creating a vaccine to fight African swine fever, which has infected farms throughout the Southeast Asian country and prompted the culling of around 10% of its pig herd.

My comments on the spreading of African Swine Fever in Asian countries have largely been on the market perspective – what the virus means for the global pork supply, consumer prices, etc.

Soybean demand seems to be unusually strong in China despite the widespread culling of pigs due to swine fever, says Darin Friedrichs, senior Asia commodity analyst at INTL FCStone.

- African swine fever (ASF) – a contagious deadly viral disease affecting pigs and wild boars – is rapidly spreading across East and Southeast Asia.