HANOI, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- As of August, African swine fever (ASF) had hit 62 out of 63 localities across Vietnam, leading to the culling of over 4 million pigs, Vietnam News Agency reported on Wednesday.
Since the first ASF outbreak in February in northern Hung Yen province, the animal disease has stricken nearly 7,000 communes, mostly 600 districts, 62 cities and provinces, the agency quoted Vietnamese deputy minister of agriculture and rural development Le Quoc Doanh as saying on Wednesday.
Early this year, Vietnam had some 27 million pigs, having the biggest pig population among Southeast Asian nations, he said, noting that on average, the number of pigs in the country annually grew more than 0.9 percent in the 2015-2018 period.
ASF is a severe viral disease affecting domestic pigs and boars which can be spread by live or dead pigs and pork products. The ASF virus is harmless to humans, but causes hemorrhagic fever in pigs and wild boars that is almost fatal, according to the World Organization for Animal Health.
