HK Plans Pig Cull After Second Swine Fever Case

Hong Kong on Friday reported its second case of African swine fever this month.

A dead pig at the Sheung Shui slaughterhouse has tested positive for the virus, prompting another mass culling at the government owned slaughterhouse.

The government said all 4,700 pigs there will be culled.

Health Secretary Sophia Chan expects disinfection work to take four days, before the facility reopens.

"This is an international practice so it is not a matter of consensus - it is a matter of following international practice and also protecting and ensuring that we have the supply as soon as possible and that this disease is not transmitted to the local (pig) community," Chan said.

Earlier this month, Hong Kong said it was culling 6,000 pigs at the Sheung Shui slaughterhouse after the SAR's first reported case of the African swine fever virus that has swept the mainland in recent months.

The African swine fever virus has devastated pork supplies on the mainland since the first case was recorded in August. By some estimates, one million pigs have been culled. The disease is deadly to pigs but does not affect humans.