A dead pig that was found washed up on a beach in Cheung Chau yesterday morning amid a massive outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) on the mainland was found not to be carrying the highly contagious virus.
A spokesperson from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) confirmed the negative result late last night, hours after the animal was taken to the Tai Lung Veterinary Laboratory in Sheung Shui to be tested, Apple Daily reports.
Officials are still looking into where the carcass originated, and it’s still unclear if it came from Cheung Chau or had drifted in from somewhere else.
According to the Centre for Food Safety (CFS), the island is home to one of the city’s three licensed slaughterhouses. The Cheung Chau slaughterhouse is about a 10 minute walk away from Tung Wan Beach, where the pig was found.
News of discovery came just days after mainland authorities announced on Tuesday that they had culled 916,000 pigs after around 100 outbreaks of ASF were reported in the country. So far, 24 provinces and regions have been hit since the first case was reported in August.
While there have been no reported ASF cases in Hong Kong so far, infected carcasses have washed ashore in Taiwan, prompting Taiwan’s president Tsai Ing-wen to urge Beijing to share information with Taipei on how it is containing the outbreak.
According to a document by the FEHD, ASF is a contagious, viral disease that only affects pigs. The death rate can reach up to 100 percent, and there is no vaccine or treatment available. It goes on to say that ASF is not a threat to food safety, but can affect pig production systems.
Reader Interactions