China pig population recovering as African swine flu outbreaks diminish

According to the Chinese government, the country’s pig population increased by 2.2% in December compared with the previous month, something of a victory following the outbreaks of African swine flu that devastated pigs across the country.

According to official figures, China saw a reduction of nearly 40% in its pig population last year due to the disease.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Yu Kangzhen said on Wednesday, January 8th, that a recovery had started in October and the pig population had already increased by 7% compared with September.

Despite this recent rise however, Yu said that preventing further swine flu outbreaks is still a complex task and the biggest risk to the current recovery.

Yu said that while the number of confirmed outbreaks had dropped, the virus had spread across the country and the risks were likely to increase with colder weather, which makes cleaning and disinfection operations more challenging.

Source: Reuters

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