The government today told the public not to be concerned over a report that a pig farm in Yuen Long had tested positive for the African Swine Fever (ASF) virus, nor should they worry about the supply of pork after the farm’s 1,400 pigs are culled this week.
“ASF is not a
zoonotic disease and will not infect humans, hence does not present any human
health and food safety risk,” the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation
Department (AFCD) said today.
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“Regardless of whether the pigs are infected with ASF, pork
cooked thoroughly is safe for consumption. Members of the public do not need to
be concerned,” it added.
“The present case does not affect the operation of local
slaughterhouses nor the overall supply of live pigs,” AFCD added.
In a report, AFCD said the present ASF case was discovered because
of a proactive emergency measure on handling dead pigs on local pig farms.
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| TAWAG NA! |
Under this measure, which has been in effect since January 3,
all farms are required to collect and submit to the AFCD nasal swab samples
from pig carcasses for ASF virus testing. The carcasses can only leave the
farms upon confirmation of a negative result.
AFCD staff inspected a licensed pig farm in San Tin, Yuen
Long on January 9, collected 32 samples from pigs and tests found one of the
samples positive for the ASF virus.
The AFCD has immediately suspended transportation of any
pigs from the farm and arranged for the culling of all its pigs this week. It
has also imposed a 3-kilometer monitoring zone around the farm; so far, this has not turned up any new positive samples.
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“The discovery of
pigs infected with ASF on the farm demonstrates that the measure can
proactively curb the spread of the virus and effectively stop pigs infected
with the ASF virus from leaving the farm, thereby interrupting the transmission
of the virus among local pig farms,” it said.
An AFCD spokesman also said positive cases should be promptly
handled, as ASF is very lethal to pigs.
“If the spread is not contained, a large number of pigs will
die and hence seriously impacting pig farmers and the pig rearing industry,”
the spokesman said.
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| PADALA NA! |
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