In this May 8, 2019, photo, a pig walks through a nearly-empty barn at a pig farm in Jiangjiaqiao village in northern China’s Hebei province. AP PHOTOHong Kong retiree Lee Wai-man loves pork fresh from the market but eats a lot less now that the price has jumped as China struggles with a deadly swine disease that has sent shockwaves through global meat markets.
The outbreak’s scale is unprecedented, said Dirk Pfeiffer, a veterinary epidemiologist at the City University of Hong Kong.China’s shortfall is likely to be so severe it will match Europe’s annual pork output and exceed US production by 30%, industry researchers say. Cambodia’s live hog price jumped 37% in the past six months, according to Srun Pov, president of the Cambodia Livestock Raiser Association. He said the country is buying about 30% of its daily needs of 500-600 tons from Thailand.
African swine fever was first reported in August in China’s northeast. Since then, 1 million pigs have died and the disease has spread to 31 of China’s 34 provinces, according to the FAO.It’s been found among a small number of wild boars, which can spread the disease, in Russia and seven European countries.
“You buy pigs, then they all die,” he said, walking on ground covered in disinfectant that looks like dirty snow. Only about 60 to 70 pigs remain from total herds of about 3,000 in Jiangjiaqiao. “More and more customers are switching from roast pork to other roast meat like chicken and duck,” said restaurant owner Siu Si-man.