Larger Cull Ordered As Swine Fever Spreads In Farm

Authorities on Tuesday order all 3,000-odd pigs at a Yuen Long farm to be slaughtered after a smaller cull last week failed to limit the spread of African swine fever there.

The outbreak of the disease – that’s deadly to pigs but harmless to humans – was confirmed at a farm in Wong Nai Tun last week after two samples taken from the same shed came back positive.

Around 240 pigs from the shed were quickly culled, but officials from the Agricultural, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) said two samples from subsequent tests of pigs at a different shed later came back positive.

"It shows that the virus is spreading on the farm. The AFCD, after consulting international experts in the area, considered it prudent to cull all the pigs on the farm," a spokesman said, adding that the owner will be duly compensated.

He added that an investigation was continuing to pinpoint the source of infection.

The infection hasn’t spread beyond the farm for now. Officials say samples taken from three neighbouring pig farms within a three-kilometre radius of the outbreak have all come back negative.

However, the AFCD says staff will be sent in to inspect the pigs from these farms before they are sent to slaughterhouses.

Inspections at other local pig farms will also be stepped up, it added.

Outbreaks of African swine fever are extremely rare in Hong Kong, even though the disease has decimated pig stocks across the mainland since 2018.

The outbreak across the border had prompted authorities here to implement stringent biosecurity measures, including cleansing and disinfection of vehicles going to the Sheung Shui Slaughterhouse.

Hong Kong reported its first outbreak at a slaughterhouse near the border in May 2019, prompting the culling of 6,000 pigs.