PIG FARMING AND THE PROBLEM OF AFRICAN SWINE FEVER (ASF)

Current status of pig farming in Vietnam

Vietnam’s pork consumption is forecast to be about 3.9 million tons in 2025, up 3.3% over the previous year and reach 4.7 million tons in 2030, corresponding to an average growth rate of 3.1% per year.

However, with The African swine fever (ASF) epidemic is raging, causing a shortage of supply, leading to rising pork prices as supply cannot meet demand. Causing great difficulties and challenges for current livestock units.

What is African swine fever (ASF)?

African swine fever is a dangerous infectious disease caused by the African swine fever virus (ASFV).

Image of the virus that causes African swine fever

The disease is characterized by rapid spread and occurs in all species of pigs (both domestic pigs and wild pigs). The disease is transmitted through pig herds through contact with blood and mucus of sick pigs. The disease occurs in all ages of pigs and all types of pigs. The disease causes serious damage with a high mortality rate of up to 100%. The African swine fever virus is highly resistant to the environment. Pigs that recover from the disease can carry the virus for a long time and can be lifelong carriers, so it is difficult to eliminate it if African swine fever occurs.

Characteristics of the African swine fever virus?

The African swine fever virus is present in the blood, organs, and secretions of pigs infected with African swine fever. The African swine fever virus is highly resistant and can withstand normal temperatures: in raw pork or pork cooked at low temperatures, the virus can survive for 3-6 months; at 56⁰C, it can survive for 70 minutes; at 60⁰C for 20 minutes; in decomposed blood for 5 weeks; in dried blood for 70 days; in feces at room temperature for 11 days; in blood at 40⁰C for 18 months; in meat attached to bones at 390C for 150 days, in ham for 140 days.

How is African swine fever transmitted?

African swine fever virus is transmitted through the respiratory and digestive tracts of pigs, through direct or indirect contact with objects contaminated with the virus such as: Public housing, means of transport, tools, utensils, clothing contaminated with the virus and leftovers containing pork (pigs) infected.

African swine fever cannot be transmitted to humans, but humans can be seen as one of the agents that spread this virus.

Symptoms of African swine fever

Usually this virus will have an incubation period of 3 to 15 days, the acute form has a shorter period, between 3 and 4 days. African swine fever has 2 forms:

1. Hyper-acute form

Pigs infected at this stage often have no clinical symptoms or only show symptoms of lying down, high fever and dying quickly.

Acute form

• Pigs have a high fever that lasts for a long time with a temperature ranging from 40.5 to 43 degrees Celsius.
• When newly infected in the first 2 to 3 days, pigs often lose their appetite, do not move, and tend to lie near water.
• The skin of pigs begins to change color from white to red in the ears, tail, legs, etc. The skin on the chest and abdomen can turn purple.
• 1 to 2 days before death, pigs have symptoms related to the nervous system, unsteady walking, rapid breathing, nasal discharge with blood, vomiting, constipation,…

In cases where pigs are able to recover or have no clinical symptoms, they are likely to be infected with this virus for life and are a dangerous source of infection.

2. Subacute form

• Pigs often have no fever or a mild fever, showing signs of loss of appetite, decreased weight, difficulty breathing.
• Pigs have difficulty walking, may have arthritis and are at high risk of miscarriage if pregnant.
• The mortality rate of pigs in the subacute form is 30 – 70% after about 15 to 45 days of infection.

Measures to prevent African swine fever

Therefore, it can be seen that African swine fever causes extremely large losses to farmers. The mortality rate of sick pigs is almost 100%. Therefore, prevention is extremely important during the current outbreak.

There are some common preventive measures as follows:

• Regularly clean and disinfect barns, means of transport and pig slaughtering tools at breeding and trading facilities.
• Increase care, provide food with adequate nutrients, create a good living environment to help increase resistance for pigs.
• Implement all types of vaccines to prevent diseases for pigs such as: Classical swine fever, blue ear, foot and mouth disease, anthrax, swine septicemia, etc.
• People who raise pigs should keep themselves clean, disinfected, and protected.
• It is necessary to equip a waste collection and treatment system that meets current requirements When pigs are found to be infected or have signs of suspicion, it is necessary to quickly isolate, inspect, and treat them.
• There should be appropriate methods to repel and destroy intermediate vectors that can spread pathogens such as flies, mosquitoes, ants, etc.
• Absolutely do not buy, slaughter, and use pigs that have not been verified or whose origin is unknown.
• When repopulating a herd after an epidemic, it is necessary to ensure compliance with the requirements and instructions of competent authorities in importing breeds, cleaning barns, etc.
• When there is a need to import breeding pigs, it is necessary to choose pigs with clear origin and good health. Pigs imported from other provinces need a quarantine certificate. At the same time, it is recommended to quarantine pigs for 2 months before re-herding.

What should be done when an epidemic occurs?

• Inform promptly the commune veterinary staff, the nearest authorities and veterinary agencies whenever pigs or pig products are suspected of being sick, suspected of being infected with pathogens, or when they are smuggled or suspected of being smuggled.
• Destroy the infected pig herd and surrounding pig herds at risk of infection disease according to the instructions of the Veterinary agency.
• Isolate epidemic areas and buffer zones to apply specific and appropriate technical solutions for each region.
• Do not use sick pigs or pigs suspected of having African swine fever (dead pigs must be destroyed).
• The authorities and specialized agencies need to immediately organize the implementation of measures to handle outbreaks, prevent and control measures in accordance with the provisions of the Veterinary Law and Circulars guiding the implementation of the Law, especially stopping the transportation of pigs, pig products, including cooked products from places where pigs and pig products have been identified as positive for African swine fever.

Measures to prevent African swine fever

Through the analysis of measures to prevent African swine fever (ASF), It can be seen that optimizing pig health and strengthening the immune system plays a central role. To achieve this, the farming environment needs to be comprehensively improved, minimizing influencing factors such as toxic gases, pathogenic microorganisms, and residual waste. With African swine fever, infection prevention is the most important step.

And one of those solutions is the application of Organic Carbon, a product that helps improve the living environment and improve farming efficiency.

Organic Carbon, a solution to prevent African swine fever

Organic Carbon is a new material originating from Japan, created by processing cellulose at the atomic level through a special manufacturing process. This is a material that does not exist in nature but is completely synthesized by modern technology. Organic Carbon has the ability to absorb ions extremely well, is a highly active allotropic form of the element Carbon. Thanks to that, Organic Carbon material easily attracts other substances, and quickly decomposes and decomposes waste as well as toxic gases in the living environment.

Organic Carbon absorbs and decomposes gases such as H2S, NH3, …

Outstanding Efficiency in Livestock

When applying Organic Carbon, the positive effects include:

• Toxic gas treatment: This material effectively eliminates NH₃, H₂S – the cause of respiratory failure, loss of appetite, and reduced weight gain in pigs. Especially in large-scale farms where waste is highly concentrated, Organic Carbon helps balance and maintain a healthy living environment, thereby helping to strengthen the pig’s immune system.

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• Control insects and pathogens: The ability to quickly decompose waste reduces the food source of flies and mosquitoes, while creating an environment that inhibits the growth of bacteria that cause digestive diseases.

• Improve high productivity: A clean living environment helps pigs develop evenly, reduces disease rates and shortens the time to market.