C.P Vietnam may be impacted by African swine fever

African swine fever has been detected in numerous countries across the globe

According to statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), as of March 1, African swine fever (ASF) had been found in 20 communes of 13 districts in six cities and provinces, including Hung Yen, Thai Binh, Thanh Hoa, Ha Nam, Haiphong, and Hanoi. The total number of pigs culled was nearly 2,350, with estimated losses of tens of billions of dong.

The spreading of the fever will impact the operations of pork processors. C.P Vietnam Corporation owns numerous large-scale pig farms in these areas.

As of the end of 2018, C.P pig farms had an average of 2,400 sows and 12,000 pigs. One of largest pig farms of the company is located in Hoa Binh province, which is quite close to Hanoi. Thus, if the company does not put effective prevention solutions in place, it will suffer massive losses once the fever reaches the province.

As foreseen, the company will likely suffer losses even with proper preventative measures as people turn away from pork for the duration of the epidemic.

At present, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is still urging localities at border areas to tighten control on trading, slaughtering, and transporting pigs and pork products to prevent further outbreaks of the disease.

Along with the efforts to prevent the spreading of the fever in the country, the MARD has decided to suspend pork imports and ready-to-eat pork from Hungary and Poland because these two countries are also impacted by ASF.

According to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), ASF is a highly contagious virus that causes an often fatal disease in pigs and wild boars. The disease is similar to classical swine fever, although they are caused by different viruses. Both diseases only affect pigs. People are not affected by African swine fever or classical swine fever.

The OIE estimates that since early 2017, as many as 20 countries have reported infections of ASF, with more than one million pigs culled.