BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s Hebei province said on Wednesday that it has confirmed a new African swine fever outbreak in pigs being transported from other provinces.
The virus was found in two trucks, halted in the coastal city of Qinhuangdao in the east of the northern province, the Hebei provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said on its website.
The trucks were carrying 245 pigs, with nine dead. All the pigs were later culled, according to a notice published on the website of the provincial agricultural department.
African swine fever decimated China’s massive pig herd after it was first detected in 2018. Beijing has been taking various measures to rebuild pig stocks, which have returned to normal levels, according to authorities.
China last reported the deadly disease in its southwestern province of Sichuan and the Inner Mongolia region located in the country’s northeast.
(Reporting by Hallie Gu and Dominique Patton; editing by Richard Pullin)
