Hogs outdoors on a farm in Italy. (Coscarella Gianfranco/iStock/Getty Images)

Swine fever found in wild boar in Italy

Reuters — African swine fever, a deadly hog disease, has been found in a wild boar in Italy’s Piedmont region, the regional government said in a statement on Friday. Tests confirmed the disease in a dead boar in Ovada, located about 120 km southwest of Milan in northern Italy, the statement said. African swine fever

File photo of hogs on a farm in the Dominican Republic. (RD-SunPhotography/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. puts up funds to prevent African swine fever

Haiti, Dominican Republic now 'countries of concern' on CFIA list

Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday pledged up to US$500 million to prevent the spread of the fatal pig virus African swine fever, after Haiti and the Dominican Republic recently confirmed outbreaks. A U.S. outbreak would likely slash U.S. pork exports and pig prices, hurting farmers and meat companies such


File photo of hogs in an outdoor pen on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. (EAGiven/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. seeks to protect pork exports if swine fever hits territories

Policy would distinguish Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands from mainland

Chicago | Reuters — The United States said on Thursday it is seeking to avoid disruptions to pork exports if the territories of Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands detect the fatal pig disease African swine fever. The risk for infections in the territories is higher after the Dominican Republic last month confirmed the



File photo of piglets at a hog operation in China. (KuLouKu/iStock/Getty Images)

China’s 2020 pork output higher than expected

Reported slowing of ASF-induced decline beats expectations

Beijing | Reuters — China’s pork output posted significant signals toward recovery last year after the sector was decimated by an incurable hog disease in 2019, official data showed Monday. China’s 2020 pork output fell 3.3 per cent from a year earlier, to 41.13 million tonnes, after plunging 21 per cent in 2019, the National



(Zevei-Wenhui/iStock/Getty Images)

Swine fever found in Germany putting pork exports at risk

Country had been fencing off borders against wild boar

Berlin/Hamburg | Reuters — Germany confirmed on Thursday that African swine fever (ASF) had been found in a dead wild boar near its border with Poland, threatening pork exports to China from Europe’s biggest pork producer, which were worth US$1.2 billion last year. Authorities in the German state of Brandenburg quarantined a 15-km area around

File photo of domestic hogs on a German farm.

Germany reports first suspected case of African swine fever

German producers currently exporting pork to China

Berlin | Reuters — Germany’s ministry of food and agriculture said on Wednesday it had a suspected case of African swine fever (ASF) in a wild boar in the eastern state of Brandenburg. The suspected case concerned a wild boar carcass found near the German-Polish border. A sample of the carcass was being taken for



File photo of piglets at a hog operation in China. (KuLouKu/iStock/Getty Images)

China encourages firms to raise pigs overseas

Officials aim to plug domestic pork shortage

Beijing | Reuters — China said Monday it is encouraging companies to build pig farms overseas to plug a severe domestic pork shortage after a worse-than-ever African swine fever slashed almost half of its pig herd. China has urged local authorities to support qualified domestic firms to “go out,” and build hog farming bases in