Over 30,000 pigs culled as low vaccine uptake hampers management
22 July 2025
2 minute learn
African swine fever outbreaks are spreading in Vietnam, threatening to disrupt meals provides within the Southeast Asian nation, Reuters reported, citing a warning from the Vietnamese authorities.
Vietnam has this yr detected 514 outbreaks in 28 out of 34 cities and provinces nationwide, the federal government mentioned in an announcement, including that the authorities have culled greater than 30,000 contaminated pigs.
“The danger of African swine fever is on a rising pattern, negatively affecting the pig farming trade, meals provides and the atmosphere,” the federal government mentioned.
African swine fever has disrupted the worldwide pork marketplace for years. Within the worst outbreak over 2018-19, about half the home pig inhabitants died in China, the world’s largest producer, inflicting losses estimated at over $100 billion.
The current outbreaks in Vietnam have prompted Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to ship an pressing directive to provinces and authorities companies this week to deploy measures to curb the illness.
Vietnam in 2023 authorized the home industrial use of its first home-grown African swine fever vaccines, however officers mentioned the speed of vaccinated pigs stays low.
“Solely round 30% of the pigs in my province have been vaccinated,” mentioned an animal well being official of Quang Ngai province, the place infections have been reported over the previous few weeks.
“It isn’t clear why the speed is low – it might both be the problem of vaccine availability, effectivity or value,” mentioned one other provincial official, who declined to be named because the individual is just not authorised to talk to the media.
The agriculture ministry’s Division of Animal Well being did not reply to Reuters’ request for remark. Calls to AVAC Vietnam JSC, the nation’s major African swine fever vaccine producer, went unanswered.
AVAC mentioned final month it had offered 3 million vaccine doses within the home market and exported 600,000 doses to the Philippines and Indonesia.
