HANOI, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Southern An Giang province has been stricken by African swine fever (ASF), becoming the 37th locality of Vietnam affected by the animal disease, Vietnam News Agency reported on Wednesday.
Fifty-two pigs raised by a household in An Giang's Long Xuyen city have contracted the ASF virus, the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said, noting that all the infected pigs have been culled.
An Giang has established eight temporary quarantine checkpoints on major roads and two others on two rivers to monitor the transport of poultry and cattle, especially pigs.
About 1.5 million pigs or 5 percent of Vietnam's pig herds nationwide have been culled since the first case of ASF was detected in northern Hung Yen province on Feb. 1, local newspaper Vietnam News on Monday quoted Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong as saying.
Without stronger preventive measures, "the most dangerous outbreak that the husbandry industry has faced so far" may spread to all 63 localities in Vietnam, he said.
ASF is a severe viral disease affecting domestic and wild boars which can be spread by live or dead pigs and pork products, the World Organization for Animal Health said, noting that the ASF virus is harmless to human but causes hemorrhagic fever in pigs and wild boars that is almost fatal.
