Thailand, one of the leading pork producers in Asia, is on red alert because of the threat of African swine fever. The kingdom is increasingly trying to fend off a deadly pork virus, which causes a great chaos in its spread in the region.
African swine fever - a disease that kills almost all pigs affected by it - has spread in Asia from China and Mongolia to Vietnam to neighboring Cambodia. Millions of pigs have been killed, leading to global protein deprivation and billions of dollars in losses for farmers and food companies.
"We are on alert for the swine virus," said Anan Suwannarat, the permanent secretary of the Thai Ministry of Agriculture, in an interview with the Thai media. "We are trying everything to prevent the spread to Thailand," he continued.
Thailand has not only tightened controls at airports and border checkpoints but has also put pressure on illegal slaughterhouses and traders and made stricter dead pig reporting requirements. Authorities have discovered contaminated pigmeat products at airports and at borders. However, no cases of porcine virus have been identified in farm inspections.
China, the largest producer and consumer of pork, has been trying to stem the outbreak since August. Without a vaccine, however, the virus spreads very quickly.
The African swine fever that spreads in Asia is undeniably bad and kills virtually every pig it infects with a hemorrhagic disease reminiscent of Ebola in humans. However, it is not known that it also makes people ill.
Vietnam, Southeast Asia's largest pork producer, discovered its first case in February. Cambodia - trapped between Vietnam and Thailand - reported its first infection less than two months later. The media already speak of an economic risk for the countries concerned.
"Preventing the outbreak is our national agenda," said Cheerasak Pipatpongsopon, deputy director-general of the Thai Livestock Authority. "Even if it comes into the country, we will quickly contain the outbreak to minimize the damage to the industry," he added.
The Thai Ministry of Agriculture estimates that an outbreak could cost the Thai economy more than US $ 1 billion if more than 50% of the country's pigs are infected. That could be almost $ 2 billion if 80% were infected. The Thai government approved a budget of $ 4.7 million last month to prepare the nation for a possible outbreak.
"No country is really safe," said Dirk Pfeiffer, a professor at the Department of Infectious Diseases and Public Health, City University of Hong Kong. "As in every country in the region and beyond, there is a high risk that the virus will be introduced in Thailand," he warned.
Thailand produces over 2 million pigs annually and exports about 40% to Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. According to Cheerasak, no live pigs or pork are imported, and now visitors are no longer allowed to bring processed pork products into the country.
Since August, pork products have been confiscated 550 times at airports and at the borders. According to the Livestock Authority, the virus has been detected 43 times.
According to the Thai Swine Raisers Association, the government is trying to keep the disease out of the country. The group's president, Surachai Sutthitham, said he was "confident Thailand could stay away from the virus."
However, the porous borders significantly increase the risk that the disease will still enter the country. The virus can survive in uncooked meat for a long time, and pigs can become infected when contaminated food gets into their food. But in Thailand, it's rare to feed the pigs with contaminated food, Cheerasak said.
An outbreak in Southeast Asia's second largest economy could pose a risk to large food companies such as Betagro Pcl and Charoen Pokphand Foods Pcl. Of these, about 180,000 smallholders would be threatened. This would also be an immediate challenge for the government, which will be formed soon after the parliamentary elections in March.
Sources: the world news, the Nation, Bloomberg, Bild.de, bankrutfarang
