Thailand rejects allegations of African swine fever cover-up

A vendor sells pork at a stall inside a market in Bangkok, Thailand, January 10, 2022. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

BANGKOK — Thailand on Monday denied accusations it has lined up an outbreak of African swine fever, after a college lab take a look at carried out final month indicated a pet pig had died from the illness.

Thai authorities have for years denied an area outbreak of the illness that has swept via Europe and Asia in recent times and killed lots of of hundreds of thousands of pigs.

Authorities have beforehand attributed most farm pig deaths to a different viral illness, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS).

Hypothesis has grown in current weeks that an African swine fever outbreak was already decimating Thai pig herds, fuelled by a pointy improve in pork costs resulting from a decrease home pig provide.

“We have now adopted each process. We couldn’t have lined it up,” Sorravis Thaneto, director-general of Thailand’s Division of Livestock Improvement, informed a information convention.

“If we discover the illness, we’ll announce it in keeping with the process.”

Authorities have began gathering blood samples from farm pigs and slaughterhouses in swine-raising provinces to search for the illness, Sorravis stated.

The illness is innocent to people however lethal for pigs.

Outbreaks have been reported in China and amongst Thailand’s neighbors, together with Vietnam the place at the least 230,000 hogs had been culled final yr, triple the quantity in 2020.

Sorravis’s feedback got here after distinguished activist Srisuwan Janya filed a criticism earlier on Monday at Thailand’s anti-corruption workplace, accusing him and two ministers of concealing an African swine fever outbreak.

Thailand’s Kasetsart College stated days in the past that its laboratory had final month discovered the illness in a useless pet pig, the primary such report in Thailand.

A consortium of deans from 14 veterinary establishments together with Kasetsart College stated they’d despatched a letter to Sorravis in early December informing him of the invention.

Sorravis, nonetheless, stated he had by no means seen the letter however would search for it.

Authorities final week stated they anticipated a decrease pig provide this yr and suspended exports of reside pigs beginning on Thursday till April 5.

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