When will African swine fever be fully lifted, and can pigs still be raised in a pig pen that had swine fever?

Since 2018, African swine fever has occurred in many areas of our country. Although many pigs have been culled, because the incubation period of swine fever is long, completely preventing and controlling it is very difficult. So when can African swine fever be fully lifted? Can a pig pen that had swine fever still raise pigs?

1. When can African swine fever be fully lifted?

1. It is hard to say when African swine fever can be fully lifted, because as things stand now, 48 outbreaks of African swine fever have occurred in 12 provinces and cities including Liaoning, Henan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Jilin, Tianjin, Shanxi, Yunnan and Hunan, and more than 200,000 pigs have been culled. At present, there are still sporadic outbreaks, which shows that control is still in place.

2. Because there is no drug and no vaccine that can deal with African swine fever, once it is found, culling is the only option, and culling is very difficult to carry out thoroughly. So I think this epidemic will exist for a long time. When it becomes a normal disease on pig farms, everyone will no longer panic. By then, it will depend on whose pigs are raised healthily and better, so that they can resist the disease through the pigs' own immunity.

3. At present, lifting the lockdown in epidemic areas in our country has strict inspection requirements. If no epidemic occurs again for 2-3 consecutive months, an application to lift the lockdown can be submitted. After inspection and approval by the emergency management department, the lockdown can be lifted. According to the experience of lifting the lockdown in Shenyang, when no epidemic occurs again in the epidemic area, the lockdown lifting time changes from 42 days to 42+15 days, at which point an application can be made for inspection and acceptance of epidemic eradication, and the lockdown can be lifted once the inspection is passed.

2. Can a pig pen that had swine fever still raise pigs?

1. Since September 2018, African swine fever has been found in our country. At present, no specific vaccine or therapeutic drug has been discovered, and the industry generally believes that pig pens that have had African swine fever cannot raise pigs within 2 years.

2. Research by epidemic prevention stations shows that for areas where swine fever outbreaks have occurred, only after disinfection, acceptance by relevant departments six weeks later, and no abnormalities within the following 6 weeks can the lockdown be lifted. Even so, it cannot be guaranteed that swine fever has been completely eliminated.

3. In addition, according to the "African Swine Fever Epidemic Emergency Plan" issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, after the lockdown is lifted, the pens must still be left empty for at least 6 months. In other words, it takes at least nearly eight months before pigs can be raised.

4. Regarding whether pigs can be raised and how long it takes before pigs can be raised, there are currently no clear regulations, nor is there a mandatory time requirement. In some places, the African swine fever lockdown has already been lifted, and the primary follow-up issue is how to continue farming work.

Overall, when African swine fever will be fully lifted is unknown, and inspections can only be strengthened. In addition, for pig pens that have had African swine fever, it is recommended to wait a period of time before farming again. The industry generally believes that pig pens that have had African swine fever cannot raise pigs within 2 years.