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 "I heard about the African swine fever thing. But then people said
it was just rumor. It was fake news," said Wang, who raises about 60
pigs in a village near Harbin, capital of China's northeastern
Heilongjiang province.
In any case, the disease was only present in the south, added Wang.
In fact, the first outbreak was reported in Shenyang, also in the
northeast. And Harbin is only 500 kilometers from Russia, where
African swine fever (ASF) has been spreading for years.
The farmer's lack of awareness of the virus highlights the scale of
the challenge Beijing faces in controlling the highly contagious
disease, which has spread rapidly among the world's largest hog herd
since it was first detected in early August.
There is no vaccine for ASF and mortality rates can be as high as
100 percent. The virus is also hardy, surviving for months in pork,
feed or swill. It is not harmful to humans.
(Swine fever in China: https://tmsnrt.rs/2PDt6Ud)
(China pig farming structure in 2016: https://reut.rs/2CLfhBn)
In an effort to check the spread of the virus, authorities have
banned the transport of live hogs from and through affected areas,
sending prices in some regions soaring.
But while industrialized pig producers in China have locked down
their farms, cancelling leave for staff who live onsite and reducing
feed deliveries and outside visitors who risk spreading the virus to
their pigs, many small pig farmers interviewed by Reuters in the
past week have done nothing to keep the disease at bay.
That is likely a major reason for the number of outbreaks on farms
of a similar size to Wang's, say experts.
"You have to know what the risks are," said an animal health expert
at one of China's biggest pig producers. "If a small farmer isn't
aware, he can't manage those risks."
NOT GETTING THROUGH
Farmers producing fewer than 500 pigs a year accounted for 42
percent of China's production in 2016, according to a research
report from Rabobank. In eastern Anhui province, which has reported
the most cases to date, there are still few large farms compared
with other regions, said Pan Chenjun, senior analyst at the bank.
Beijing said last month it had launched a major education campaign
on how to prevent the spread of the disease. It also collaborated
with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization from 2014
to 2015 on a project to develop prevention and control strategies
for African swine fever.
That included awareness-raising in rural communities, and in
particular in Heilongjiang province, where Wang lives. Booklets on
the virus were also distributed to farmers and vets across the
country, according to the project details.
But the rapid spread of the disease in recent weeks raises questions
about how effective those efforts were.
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The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs did not respond to a
fax seeking comment on the issue.
Wang, who raises his pigs in open pens and buys feed from
door-to-door salesmen, did not require any disinfecting on a recent
visit, a standard measure for preventing the spread of disease on
farms.
Another farmer near Harbin, 65-year-old Zhang Chao, also knew little
of the swine fever outbreaks. Local authorities recently supplied
several bottles of disinfectant to his farm of several dozen pigs,
said Zhang, and asked him and his wife to carry out thorough
disinfection. But the couple did not know why.
"I am just a small pig farmer. What difference does it make if I
know about it or not? What can I do?," asked Zhang.
CONSOLIDATION OPPORTUNITY?
Bigger farmers appear better informed. At a farm with 400 sows on
the outskirts of Beijing, owner Ma said she had attended a
government meeting on the disease several weeks ago. She declined to
give her full name.
An official poster on her farm wall showed pictures of symptoms to
watch out for, and described measures to prevent its spread.
Those included preventing pigs from coming into contact with
infected feed, meat products and equipment, and raising pigs far
from areas with wild boars.
"This disease is really terrifying," said Ma's farm technician Wang
Liang. "For ourselves, we make sure we disinfect everything when we
arrive, and the less contact with outsiders the better."
Reaching and educating China's millions of backyard farmers in
remote regions, including the many operating under the government's
radar, may be an impossible task, said experts.
"They're firefighters," said Pan at Rabobank, referring to the
authorities' efforts to control the outbreak. "They'll go to the
affected regions first but they don't have so much manpower. They
can't cover everywhere immediately."
African swine fever may also push Beijing to shut down more small
farms and further promote large players with a better grasp of
biosecurity and the resources to invest in such systems, said
industry participants, a push already under way.
"My clients are still expanding," said a Shanghai-based farm
management consultant who advises large producers in China. "They
think this will be a good opportunity."
(Reporting by Hallie Gu and Dominique Patton; Editing by Alex
Richardson)
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