ROME, Italy: A rapid spread of African Swine Fever (ASF) is wiping out pig herds in China, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in its latest report, and the killer disease has led to a drop in world meat production for the first time in more than 20 years, with other global staples also facing new threats.
The Organization’s latest Food Outlook, published on Thursday, anticipates ASF will lead to a contraction of at least 20 per cent in the output of pork products in China, the world’s largest producer, accounting for half of all global production.
As a result, the combined output of cattle, sheep, poultry and pig meat is forecast to total 335 million tonnes in carcass weight equivalent - one per cent lower than the previous year, according to FAO.
African Swine Fever straining global markets
ASF prompted soaring prices for pig meat earlier this year, as China’s first reported outbreak in 2018 took hold, affecting 34 mainland provinces as of this July, where tens of millions of households depend on the animal for income.
The current failure to curb the highly-contagious disease is expected to strain global markets, with no vaccine currently available. Though harmless to humans, in pigs it causes high fever, internal bleeding, and will almost always kill the animal within weeks.